The Girl
by LivwellisUltimate
Summary: Carly Gilbert was just a girl. A girl who loved art, music, writing, and family. She was normal...until the night that she wasn't, the night when her parents drove off of Wickery Bridge. Since then Carly's had to juggle her own depression and trauma in order to be the authority figure her aunt and siblings need. But surviving isn't so easy when she falls for a Salvatore.
1. Chapter 1

Four months.

Four months.

Four months.

Those two words played like a broken record in the mind of Charlotte Victoria Gilbert, or, as she's nicknamed by her friends and family, Carly. It's been four months since she and her twin sister Elena drove off Wickery Bridge with their parents, four months since they miraculously survived drowning in their car, four months since...since they had to say goodbye to their parents.

As Carly got ready for the first day back to school since that horrible tragedy, she stared at herself in the mirror. Long dark brown hair that reached to her waist, which she decided to straighten for the day, a pale face, and chocolate brown eyes that held so much grief in them despite being only seventeen-years-old. At first glance she looked like a normal teenager.

But she wasn't normal. Far from it.

Heaving a tired sigh, Carly grabbed her bag and went downstairs to see her aunt Jenna (her mother Miranda's younger sister) rushing around the kitchen, trying to help them get ready for the day.

"Toast!" Jenna shouted, looking frazzled. "I can make toast."

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna," Elena replied, going over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup.

"I second that," Carly murmured as she fixed herself a cup of her own, reaching over her twin's head to grab at the sugar in the cupboard.

"I got the cream for you," Elena told her sister.

Carly smiled at her. "Thanks," she said, and her twin nodded.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy, her and Elena's younger fifteen-year-old brother, asked as he came into the room. He reached over and grabbed Elena's cup and took it for himself, taking a drink from it.

Carly laughed when she saw the annoyed look on her sister's face as she reached above to take another cup. Carly added her cream and sugar and mixed it together with a spoon before she took a sip, closing her eyes at the warm, comforting feeling of the sweetened liquid running down her throat. If it was something that she loved more than books, music, and her twin, it was coffee. She would marry it if she could.

"Lunch money?" Jenna snapped Carly out of her coffee la la land, holding out a bunch of dollar bills to them. Carly stared at her brother suspiciously as he snatched the money from their aunt, knowing what he was going to do with them once they were out of the house.

"Ugh, it's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Is there anything else? Number two pencils? Am I missing anything?" Jenna asked, her nerves making her talk faster.

"Don't you have a presentation today?" Carly asked, looking over at Jenna.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet my thesis advisor at..." Jenna checked her watch. "Now. Crap!" She hurriedly began fixing her hair in an attempt to make herself look cut and clean for her meeting. "Are you guys okay getting off to school by yourselves?"

"Yes, Aunt Jenna," Carly answered.

"We'll be fine," Elena backed her sister up. "Go, you don't want to be too late."

Jenna smiled at her nieces and hurried out the door.

Elena sighed and turned to look at Jeremy. "Are you okay?" She asked him, and Carly stood with her coffee mug at her lips, knowing, just like her sister did, that their little brother was most definitely not okay. Out of the three of them, their parents' death had hit the youngest Gilbert the hardest, and the way that he dealed with his grief was something that neither sister approved of. He was doing drugs, getting high, and drinking alcohol. He stayed out late most nights and, whenever he did get home, always smelled like an ash tray. His grades also left much to be desired; he was skipping class every day and blowing off his homework.

"Don't start," Jeremy warned Elena and walked away, bringing his own mug up to his lips to drink his coffee.

Elena heaved another sigh and looked at Carly, who instantly set down her mug and was by her side, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"It's okay, Leney," Carly soothed her sister by using the nickname that she had given Elena since they were very young. "He'll be okay. He's just trying to cope in the best way that he can."

"I'm worried about him, Car Car," Elena responded, using her own nickname for Carly. "I'm so scared that one day he's going to take this too far and he's going to hurt himself. I don't want to lose anyone else." Tears began to well up in the girl's eyes, and Carly abandoned the shoulder hug for a full one, wrapping her twin up in her arms and rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her younger-by-five-minutes sister.

"I know, I'm worried too," Carly admitted. "But you can't force him to come around when he's not ready. He needs the time to figure things out for himself." She felt Elena nod against her shoulder and smiled, pulling back and wiping away some of the tears that had leaked from the brunette's eyes. "Come on, it's Bonnie's turn to drive to school."

Elena nodded and they both took their black leather jackets and left the house, Carly locking the door behind them and getting into the car of Bonnie Bennett, one of their best friends since childhood.

"So Grams is telling me that I'm psychic," Bonnie told the twins as they were driving to school.

Carly snorted and replied, "More like psych_o_."

Bonnie playfully glared at her friend but couldn't hold it. Her glare melted into a grin and she laughed as she continued on, "She tells me that our ancestors were from Salem and she keeps going on and on about it and I'm like, 'put this woman in a home already!'" Carly laughed at that. "But I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger and I still think that Florida is going to break off into tiny little resorts, but..." Bonnie finally noticed that, though Carly was making an effort in hearing about "Crazy Old Grams," Elena was just staring blankly out the window.

"Elena!" Elena jumped when she heard Bonnie's yell. "Come back to the car!"

"Sorry, I did it again, didn't I?" Elena asked. She felt like beating herself up for not listening to her friend, and Carly, sensing this, reached over from where she sat in the backseat and took her sister's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Elena looked into the rearview mirror at her and gave her a grateful smile, returning her squeeze with one of her own.

"Sorry, Bonnie," Elena apologized again. "You were saying..."

"That I'm psychic now?" Bonnie helped, looking at her best friend with sympathy in her eyes. "Yeah."

"Okay," Elena humored her, the beginnings of a tiny smile quirking at her mouth. "Tell us what you see in the future for us."

"Yeah, Bon," Carly chimed in. "Break out your crystal ball and go fortune-teller on us."

"I see..." Bonnie began but was interrupted when a crow came flying out of nowhere and hit the windshield, causing Bonnie to scream in shock and swerve out of the way, stopping with a jolting halt at the end of the sidewalk.

"What was that?!" Bonnie shouted to herself, then, as if the thought had just came to her, whirled to check on Carly and Elena. "Oh my God, Carly, Elena, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, Bonnie," Elena said, clearly shaken.

"I didn't see it. It just came out of nowhere," Bonnie continued, not paying her any attention.

"Really, it's fine. I can't be afraid of a car my whole life," Elena reassured her, but then felt her twin.

Carly wasn't doing as well. She could still hear the screech of tire on asphalt when Bonnie swerved her car. She felt her chest seize up and her pupils dilated, the signs of a panic attack. She let out a cry and started fumbling to get out of her side of the car, whimpering desperately as she was thrown back in time to when she was in her parents' car. She could still hear the collective scream that all four of them had let out, the water rising and filling her mouth, going down her chest, flooding her lungs...

Finally, she managed to release her seatbelt and she opened the door, throwing herself onto the sidewalk next to them, ignoring the pain that radiated up her body as it made contact with the cement. Carly dry heaved, shaking, and sobs began to rise out of her throat. She let out a panicked scream when she felt someone's hands on her.

"Carly, it's me!"

"El-Elena?" Carly sobbed, leaning into her sister's embrace as Elena began rubbing her back.

"Shh, it's me. You're safe. We're both safe," Elena told her sister, rocking her gently in an effort to calm her.

After a few minutes, Carly's panic attack passed and she just sat there in her sister's arms, the tears she had shed drying into cool tracks on her face.

"How do you feel?" Elena whispered.

"Crappy," Carly croaked.

Bonnie, who had been waiting for Elena to calm her down, now appeared on her other side and wrapped her arms around both girls. "I'm so sorry," she apologized once again to them for what had just transpired.

"It wasn't your fault, Bonnie," Carly replied. "Come on, let's get to school."

"Are you sure?" Elena asked as she helped her twin stand up. "We can always decide to skip."

Carly snorted. "And what kind of role models would we be to the children if we skip all because I freaked out?" Her tone was derisive as she spoke of herself. What kind of idiot would just break down like that on the side of the road? Oh, yeah. Her.

Elena stared at her sister in concern. "Carly..." she trailed, feeling through their twin bond the fear that still gripped her. Carly's shaking had stopped and she was already putting up her 'bad girl' facade, but Elena knew better. Carly was still just as traumatized as she and Jeremy were, maybe more so if her nightmares were anything to go by.

Carly sighed and felt her twin take her hand in her own and, at that touch, looked over at her and said, "I'm not okay, Lena, but I have to be, right? We can't be those sad little girls who lost our parents forever, right? We need to rebuild and come back. Otherwise it'll be as if we died in that accident too."

Elena bit her lip at her sister's words. "Yeah," she agreed.

"Don't worry, we'll get through this. All we have to do is stick together," Carly squeezed Elena's hand then looked at Bonnie. "All of us."

Bonnie nodded with a smile. "Caroline, Ari, and I are always here for you two."

Carly smiled and they got back into Bonnie's car, Elena sitting with Carly in the back this time instead of in the front with Bonnie. "I predict that this year is going to be kickass," Bonnie told the twins as they drove to school. "You two are going to be beyond happy."

Carly shared a smile with Elena before she turned her head to stare out the window while her sister and friend talked, when she saw the same crow that Bonnie had accidentally hit. She furrowed her brows when she saw it in perfect health, perched on the top of the wooden 'Wickery Bridge' sign. It stared at her with its black, beady eyes, almost as if it was gazing into her soul. Carly felt something as she stared at it. She didn't know if it was interest or not; the only thing that she knew, though, as she stared at the strange bird was that this year was definitely going to be interesting.

She just hoped that all of the bad things that had happened to her would be worth it.


	2. Chapter 2: The New Kid

When the three girls got to school, Carly had recovered from her panic attack and was her normal sarcastic self again. As Bonnie parked her car and the trio began to emerge, Carly spotted a sign in front of the school that read, "Welcome back to school!" and scoffed. "Welcome back to Hell is more like it," she remarked.

"Carly!" Elena scolded her twin, trying to act stern but the grin on her face gave her away.

"What?" Carly innocently looked back at Elena, and a wide grin stretched her mouth when she saw the playful shake of her sister's head.

As soon as they stepped foot into the school and went to their lockers, a blur of red came and tackled Carly, who fell with an oof against her locker, the breath having been knocked out of her from the ambush. "You're okay!" Arianna Walker, who went by the nickname Ari, crowed happily as she embraced her friend.

Carly smiled when she heard the voice of the hyperactive redhead. She and Ari had been friends since first grade when Ari's family moved to Mystic Falls. The two girls became fast friends despite their somewhat opposite personalities and have been close ever since. Granted Ari wasn't her best friend, that honor was given to one Caroline Forbes, an equally as hyperactive-and somewhat shallow-blonde that she had known ever since they were two-years-old and still sleeping in cribs. Despite not being her _best _best friend, Ari was still one of them, just like Bonnie was.

"I'm as okay as I'll ever be, Ari," Carly told her when the other girl removed herself from her arms.

They spotted Matt looking over at them...well, more specifically, over at Elena. "Uh oh," Carly muttered when Elena gave him a tenative wave but he didn't respond. Instead, he just stared at her for a few seconds with those somber eyes before he closed his locker and walked away.

"He hates me," Elena sighed heavily as she turned around to face her sister and friends.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Please," she scoffed. "That's not hate."

"She's right," Bonnie agreed. "That's 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits.'"

"Carly! Elena!"

All of the girls turned to see Caroline Forbes approaching them. Instantly Caroline threw her arms around Carly, holding her best friend close to her chest in an embrace before bringing Elena in for one too. "Oh, my God. How are you? It's so good to see you two."

Releasing the twins from her death grip she turned to Bonnie and Ari. "How are they? Are they good?" Caroline asked them, the concern shining in her eyes.

Carly rolled her eyes. '_That's Caroline for you,_' She thought affectionately. '_About as subtle as a punch in the face_.'

"Caroline, we're right here," Elena told her friend, regaining her attention. "And we're fine. Thank you."

"Really?" Caroline asked doubtfully, looking from her to Carly and back again.

"Yes. Much better," Elena lied, but still had a smile on her face in an effort to conceal how she really felt, but Carly knew better, both from their twin bond and just from common sense. The pain of losing their parents, two people who they loved more than anything and who loved them more than anything, would take a long time to recover from, and four months was definitely not enough time to cope with it.

Caroline's eyes slid back over to Carly. "What about you? How are your nightmares? Are they gone? Did you have a panic attack?" Before Carly could answer, her eyes lit up with worry and she turned back to Bonnie and Elena. "She had a panic attack, didn't she? Oh, I knew that I should have come to get her this morning!"

"Care, hey. It's okay. _I'm _okay," Carly redirected her best friend's attention back to her.

"Are you sure?" Caroline asked, staring at her.

Carly nodded. "Yeah," she answered. She knew, just as well as Elena did, that what she just said was a big, fat lie. She just didn't want to give her perky blonde best friend any more ammunition to coddle her. She loved Caroline, absolutely adored the girl, but when it came to protecting and comforting her, the blonde could get a little carried away. Once, when she had a cough, Caroline had come over, bringing chicken soup and what felt like the Mount Everest of thick comforters to place on her. By the end of the day, Carly was sure that she would have spontaneously combusted from all of the heat had it not been for her mother coming in to tell Caroline that Liz, the sheriff and Caroline's mother, wanted her home.

Instantly Carly was envloped in another one of what she dubbed as a "Care Bear" hug. It was when Caroline wrapped her arms around you and squeezed like a boa constrictor; you felt like you were going to die from lack of oxygen. "Oh, you poor thing," Caroline cooed, kissing her friend's forehead before going over to hug Elena. "Same with you." Caroline didn't hug Elena for as long or as hard as she hugged Carly, and she didn't kiss her forehead after, but she did give her a little squeeze that pretty much told them that their cover-ups couldn't fool her.

"Okay, Caroline," Elena said, slightly uncomfortable at all of the attention being given to her.

"Oh!" Caroline pulled away. "Okay, see you guys later?" She asked.

"Yeah," Carly and Elena chorused while Ari and Bonnie chimed, "Okay! Bye!"

Caroline gave them one of her winning, Hollywood white-teeth smiles before she hurried away.

The girls all shared looks before Elena spoke up, "No comment."

"I'm not going to say anything," Bonnie responded, and they started walking down the hall.

"Caroline's just as protective of you as ever," Ari commented.

Carly looked at the redhead. "Yeah, but she's always been like that with all of her friends," she answered.

"That may be true," Bonnie began as they neared the office. "But with you it's different. Caroline loves Ari, Elena, and I, but we all know that she's the closest to you. I'm pretty sure that she'd jump in front of a bullet to protect you."

Carly opened her mouth to respond when Bonnie suddenly stopped and said, "Whoa! Look at that!"

"Look at what? All I see is back," Elena asked.

"A hot back," Bonnie retorted, watching as Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious turned around, just in the middle of placing his sunglasses back onto his face when he noticed the four of them staring at him.

The boy froze, his hand with the sunglasses hovering as his eyes fell on Elena. He looked as if he was seeing a ghost, nervous and almost terrified, but at the same time he looked as if he had just seen an angel on Earth with that mesmerizing stare that many first love couples have.

Carly looked over at her twin, who was watching the boy with that same mesmerized look. The older of the Gilbert twins gave Bonnie and Ari a small smirk, to which they returned. She knew exactly what that look meant; they just found Elena's future lover, the one that Bonnie said would make Elena "beyond happy."

Finally, though, the boy turned around and quickly walked away from them and, stealing a glance at her sister, Carly saw Elena's face fall in just the slightest as he walked away, but that lovey little look still remained.

Carly then noticed her brother, Jeremy, going into the bathroom. Gently hitting her sister in the shoulder, she pointed that out and heard Elena sigh in exasperation. "We'll be back, guys. We need to take care of something," Carly told them and she and Elena were off, storming into the bathroom.

"Woah, chicks, pants down!" One of the guys hollered at them.

"Shut up!" Carly snapped, and watched her twin grab Jeremy's chin and look into his eyes.

"Great," Elena growled, pulling away from her brother and staring at him angrily. "It's the first day of school and you're stoned."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and protested, "No, I'm not."

"You think we're really that stupid to not know if our little brother was stoned? The red eyes and sluggishness tell us otherwise, so _don't _pull that bullshit on us, Jer," Carly warned, glaring at her younger brother, who flinched just the slightest bit under her furious gaze.

"Where is it? Is it on you?" Elena started patting Jeremy down, grabbing at the sleeves and pockets of his hoodie, trying to find the drugs.

"Stop, all right?! You need to chill yourselves, all right?!" Jeremy knocked away Elena's hands, staring at her like she was crazy.

"_Chill ourselves_?!" Carly and Elena echoed together, incredulous. "What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are _so _cool!" The twins' voices seemed to rise with their anger as Elena continued to pat Jeremy down, Carly now joining in.

"Look, stop!" Jeremy shouted in frustration, shoving the girls a little away from him. "I don't have anything on me. Are you two crazy?!"

"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy!" Carly yelled, finally losing control of her temper as she got in her brother's face. "Elena and I gave you a summer pass because of what happened and you know what? I don't blame you; there were times when all I wanted to do was just give up on the world and forget that we'd never see our parents again, but enough is enough!"

"We are done watching you destroy yourself," Elena took over when Carly stepped aside and ran a hand over her face in an attempt to compose herself.

"No, no, no," Carly jumped in and interrupted Elena before she could continue. "You know what? Go ahead, keep it up." The oldest Gilbert sibling leaned in close to the teen. "But just know that Elena and I will be there every time to ruin your buzz, got it?" She knew she was being a bitch right now, but she couldn't bring herself to care at that moment. Her parents have been dead for four months, she still had crippling panic attacks and horrifying nightmares nearly every night, and her little brother-the one whom she had sworn to protect since the moment her parents brought him home from the hospital-was throwing his life away on pill bottles and cigarettes and whatever other drug he could get his hands on. Right now she didn't care about being nice; all she cared about was stopping her brother from killing himself.

Elena gently hit her sister on her side, giving her a stern look. "Count to ten," she said, and Carly rolled her eyes but proceeded to do so.

Elena then turned back to Jeremy, her eyes softening a little. "Jeremy, what she means to say is that we know who you are, and it's not this person, so please don't be this person." Her pleading tone made Jeremy look down for a minute, almost as if he was considering her words.

Then he looked up and told them, "I don't need this." Then he pushed them away, heaved himself off of the sink that Elena had pushed him up against when she was checking to see if he was stoned, and left the bathroom.

Carly sighed and looked at Elena, now considerably calmer than she had been while she yelled at Jeremy. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little..." She trailed off, not really knowing how to explain what had just happened.

"On edge?" Elena guessed, raising an eyebrow and giving her a tiny smile, one that her sister returned when she took a deep breath and nodded. "It's okay, I understand. It's been hard on all of us, but at least Jeremy and I don't get nightmares or panic attacks." When Carly looked shamefully down at her feet, Elena grabbed her face using both of her hands and made their eyes meet again. "Don't do that. You should never feel ashamed of yourself for how you've been feeling. Your nightmares and your panic attacks will never change how I feel about you; you're still my twin sister and the best friend I've ever had, Car Car, and I love you."

Carly's eyes shone a little with unshed tears that had appeared at her sister's sweet words, and she nodded, hugging her. After a few minutes, Carly pulled away and wiped at her face, wet from a few traitor tears that had slipped out, and said, "Come on, let's go."

The sisters opened the door to the bathroom and walked out...only for both of them to come face to face with the mysterious new boy that had instantly captured Elena's attention.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but isn't this the boys' bathroom?" The boy asked them with a small smile on his face.

"Oh, uh, yeah, it is the boys' bathroom, I was just...I mean, we were just..." Elena was instantly flustered by how this beautiful boy was looking at her. He was looking at her as if she was the best thing he had ever seen in years, like how a man dying of thirst in the world's hottest desert would look at water upon returning to civilization.

Carly was smirking widely as she watched the exchange. She didn't quite know who this new kid was, but she could already see the connection between him and her sister. "We'd better get going. Enjoy the bathroom," Carly grinned at the boy and waved at him before hooking her arm with Elena's and leading her away.

"Hey!" Elena protested as they were getting closer to where Caroline, Bonnie, and Ari were standing.

Carly scoffed. "Don't 'hey!' me, Lena. You know as well as I do that you were babbling and that you'll continue to babble until he either left or I made you leave," the older brunette was very matter-of-fact with her tone.

Elena blushed but didn't say anything to contradict her, making Carly grin.

"Hey, guys," Carly greeted. "How's it going?"

"Caroline's telling us about how she's been stalking the new guy," Ari replied without looking up from her phone.

Caroline threw Ari a look before she turned to the twins. "His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle up in the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived there since he was a kid, though. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue," she relayed all of the information in such a nonchalant way that it had Carly's eyebrows going up, wondering if Ari was right and she _had _been stalking the new kid. But then again, this was Caroline; she wouldn't put anything past her best friend.

"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

"Stalking," the tiny redhead sang.

Caroline ignored Ari and told Bonnie, "Please, I got all of that in between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Sounds kinda like stalking, Care," she said.

Caroline stuck her tongue out at Carly. "What about you?" The blonde asked.

"What about me?" Carly asked, crinkling her eyebrows in confusion.

"Do you have your eye on anyone? Since...you know," Caroline said.

'_Well, thank you for not blurting it out, Care,_' Carly thought. "No, I don't," she answered, pulling away from Elena and going over to her locker, retrieving the books she needed for her later classes.

"Come on, Leelee," Caroline started, using the nickname that she had developed for her best friend when they were four. "You haven't had a boyfriend in four months. I can always play matchmaker and find your Mr. Right," The blonde waggled her eyebrows suggestively at the older Gilbert sister.

Carly rolled her eyes and shut her locker, turning to face Caroline. "Care, as much as I appreciate your concern for my relationship status, I'm going to have to say no. Four months ago, I broke up with someone who cheated on me all the time. I couldn't stay with someone like that. Right now, too, I'm trying to pick up the pieces of myself that shattered apart when that relationship ended and my parents went off Wickery Bridge. I'm trying to live my life, Care, and a man doesn't define it," Carly smiled a little at her before turning around and walking off to her first class of the day.

As she went, though, she couldn't help but think of Bonnie's prediction for her and Elena: '_You two are going to be beyond happy_.' Elena already found what could be her happiness in Stefan Salvatore, but could she find hers?


	3. Chapter 3: Gravesite Occurrences

_September 7, 2009_

_ Well, there it is. Our first day back to school since the accident. As soon as Elena and I stepped through the doors, everyone looked at us. I knew what they were thinking: there goes the Gilbert twins, they're orphans! Or: those poor girls! I feel so bad for them for what happened. Or even: I can't believe they didn't die with their parents. How could it be that _they _survived? I have to admit...that last whisper hurts the most because it's something I've always wondered to myself. How could _we _survive an otherwise fatal crash? How could Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, two of the most important members in Mystic Falls, be the ones to die while their daughters, a cheerleader and a borderline outcast/suffering artist, who are as strong as any other pair of seventeen-year-old girls, still be alive?_

_ Ari and Caroline about squeezed the life out of me when they saw me today. I guess I can't blame them, though. I'd been distant for four months. That's one-hundred-and-twenty-three days that they've hardly even seen me or heard my voice, one-hundred-and-twenty-nine if you add in the extra six days before the beginning of the school year. I suppose they had good reason to be worried, but my parents had just died and I didn't feel like talking to anyone. Most of my days after the funeral were spent curled up, crying in my bed, either alone or with Elena and Jeremy._

_ Jeremy's been scaring me lately. He's been staying out late and sneaking out in the middle of the night. I know that he's been meeting up with the stoners out in the woods, smoking joints and drinking alcohol. He tries to cover it up when he comes home, but Elena, Aunt Jenna, and I aren't stupid; we can smell the smoke on his clothes and the alcohol that makes his breath stale. We even confronted him today in the boys' bathroom, and I got a little crazy when we did. I know I should be gentler with him, especially since Elena is the one who's usually the hands-on, bossy extremist that Jeremy runs from and I'm the calmer, more understanding one that he runs to, but I couldn't stop myself. I've already had to bury my parents...I didn't want to do the same with my brother..._

_ So there you go: the first terrible day of an even more terrible school year. I could tell you that I'm hoping for the best and that I believe that this year will get better, but my parents didn't raise me to be a liar._

_Until next time,_

_-Carly_

Carly sighed, clicking on the eraser side of her mechanical pencil and pushing the lead back into the point before closing her diary and placing the two items back into her bookbag. Leaning against her parents' headstone, Carly looked around at all of the headstones that lined the grass of Mystic Falls Cemetery. Hulking gray structures made of anything ranging from cement to limestone to even marble, surfaces so bumpy they felt like spikes to ones that were as smooth as silk. The two things they had in common, though? Every single one of them was cold to the touch and engraved with a name, a date, and some kind of inscription of a person who has been long dead. She could just imagine what some of the bodies looked like underneath the ground on which she sat; some could be freshly buried, still looking as if they should still be alive. Some could be partially decomposed and looking like something from a George Romero movie. Others could just be skeletons, the bodies completely rotted away and turned to food for the worms.

Okay, so maybe her thought process was a little dark, but she'd always been like that. She'd always been close to Elena and her family, but everyone knew that she was a little more...out there...than the rest of them. She could watch horror movies and barely flinch, eat a bowl of spaghetti during evisceration scenes while everyone else would be turning their heads-or throwing up, depending on how gory it was-, and she could eat lunch and hang out in cemeteries for hours. Her wardrobe, too, reflected how she was "the edgy twin"; nearly every single article of clothing she owned was black, but she had some blue, red, dark pink, and purple thrown in there too. Black Veil Brides, Avenged Sevenfold, Skillet, Escape The Fate, My Chemical Romance, all of those darker style bands, decorated the walls and desk of her room. She also had black painted walls with purple lilies bordering the top and bottom. To put it simply, Carly wasn't called The Edgy Twin or The Dark One for nothing.

Carly chewed on the chip she had taken from the Doritos bag sitting on her bookbag next to her that she had saved from lunch. As she crunched the piece of cheesy flavored goodness, she had to wonder, once again, how this year was supposed to be her happiest. It's not like she was going to win an award or fall in love, so how was she supposed to be happy? And more importantly...was it even _possible _for her to allow herself to feel happiness? She still blamed herself for the death of her parents and that kind of feeling just doesn't go away.

"I'm a trainwreck," Carly sighed, leaning against her parents' headstone. The coldness felt surprisingly good on her back, and if she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine her father's playful ruffle to her hair or her mother's warm hugs, the hugs that used to get her through a bad day or comfort her following a nightmare. She used to have that...now she only had bittersweet memories.

Her musing was interrupted when she heard the ruffle of wings. Carly opened her eyes-they were closed?-to see the crow that had been staring at her on the way to school that morning. It was staring at her now, its dark eyes just as intense and beady as it had been on the Wickery Bridge sign.

"Hi, bird," Carly spoke softly as not to startle the animal. It tilted its head at her, and she smiled slightly. "Are you hungry? I don't know how much you like Doritos, but..." She trailed as she pulled out a chip and threw it toward the crow. The crow jumped a little bit before it moved closer. It stared at her for a minute before craning its neck out and taking the chip. _Crunch, crunch, crunch, gulp!_

"That good?" Carly grinned at the crow as it licked its beak slightly and looked back at her expectantly. It cawed impatiently when she didn't do anything at first, and Carly giggled. "Okay, here," she took out another one and, to her surprise, it flew to her and landed on her arm, gulping down its second chip before her brain registered what had just happened.

"Woah!" Carly breathed out a laugh. "I guess you liked that, huh?" The crow cawed in agreement, and she said, "Yeah, I can't really blame you for liking them. Nacho cheese is the best flavor there is, and I don't care what my aunt and sister say. They like ranch." Carly scrunched up her nose in disgust. She hated ranch.

The crow watched her and Carly started gently petting its feathers. It fluttered its wings for a second but settled down, seeming to almost cuddle her arm as she stroked it. "You know, I always liked crows. Crows and ravens. They've always been my favorite birds. Dark, misunderstood, introverted...kinda like me," Carly's voice became lower and almost sad as she spoke. "I'd get weird looks from a lot of people whenever I'd tell them that I prefer crows and ravens over the happier, more colorful birds, like robins or blue jays. But there's just something about them that I think is beautiful. Not everything dark has to be feared, right?"

The crow cocked its head, staring at her, and she smiled. "Well, I should be getting home. Elena's home now; she likes staying out here to think and be close to our parents, too, but I was in my art club while she was out here. Plus I stay here longer than she does; it's an edgy twin thing." Carly gently stroked the bird's feathers again before it flew from her arm and onto a tree.

As Carly began gathering her things, she froze. Looking around she saw fog. Thick, heavy fog permeated the air around her, shrouding everything in gray. "Okay. That's not normal," she muttered, looking around before her gaze landed on a dark figure peaking out from behind one of the trees. Its build was definitely male and it looked nice and relaxed, as if the man was out on an afternoon stroll through the park instead of skulking around graveyards. Though Carly couldn't see his face, she knew that whoever this mysterious figure was was staring right at her and, strange enough, she didn't feel threatened by this fact. She felt...safe, like she knew that this man, whoever he was, would never let anything hurt her.

Carly took a step forward, about to call out to the stranger before she heard her phone ring, breaking whatever spell that had been placed on her. Blinking, she looked down at her ringing phone, then up only to see the figure had disappeared, the crow was gone, and the fog had completely dissipated, looking as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Weird," Carly murmured, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Then she remembered her phone was still ringing. Taking it out of her pocket, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey. Are you still at Mom and Dad's grave?" It was Elena.

"Uh, yeah. Are you home?" Carly asked.

"Yeah. Do you want to go to The Grill in a couple of hours? I'm supposed to meet Bonnie there and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come," Elena answered.

"Sure," Carly replied after a few moments of deliberation. "Just let me change my clothes when I get home and then we can go."

"Okay. Are you feeling okay? You sound...off," Elena asked, her concern seeping through the phone. Carly could feel her worry through the twin bond, and it was almost stifling.

"Well, we _did _just come back to a whole bunch of stares and 'I'm sorrys', Lena. It's hard to focus on anything besides that," Carly responded. It wasn't a total lie; their first day back to school was the worst. Getting people who looked at you all the time with those pitying expressions and hearing them whisper behind your back about how you were alive when you should've died is always off-putting.

Her twin sighed on the other line. "I know, Carly, but it'll be okay. Not now, maybe not even later, but it will be. At least we have each other."

Carly smiled at her twin's optimism. Even depressed and moody from their loss, Elena _still _managed to find room to fit in a pep talk or two. "I'll see you soon. I love you, Twinny."

"I love you too, Twinny," Carly could hear the smile in Elena's voice as they both addressed one another by the nickname that only they could use for each other. It made her happy to know that even through these unbearable four months, she still had her sister by her side.

The call disconnected then, and Carly placed her phone back into her pocket. She took one more look around, stared at the tree where she saw that mysterious man, and then turned on her heel and walked out of the cemetery, her bookbag on her shoulder and the feeling deep within her soul that something was going to happen soon, something that would challenge everything she's ever believed in.


	4. Chapter 4: Getting to Know Stefan

When Carly arrived at the Mystic Grill, one of the hottest places in town, she saw Elena sitting at a table with Matt, Bonnie, Ari, Caroline, and Stefan. The six of them were sitting at one of the circular tables, each with their own facial expression. Matt had a smile on his face that was so fake it could have been made of plastic, Bonnie was watching Stefan with a smile that was nice enough but Carly knew her friend enough to know that she was inspecting him to see if he really was going to be good for Elena, Ari was looking up every once in a while from her phone-man, that girl was addicted!-so she could ask Stefan a question, Caroline was watching Stefan with such a lovesick look that Carly winced, feeling sympathy for her best friend because she knew that when it comes to Elena, Stefan would _never _choose her. _That _she knew from experience. She may not resent her sister, in fact she loved her so much and would die for her, but she did know what it was like to have someone she was interested in reject her for "the good twin."

And finally, there were Stefan and Elena. They were trying to hide it, but as they talked, they were staring at each other with that instant love in their eyes. Stefan was looking at her like she was his whole world, and Elena was looking at him like he was the best thing that's ever happened to her, which he probably was if the last four months were anything to go by. Once again, Carly felt a pang of sympathy hit her, not only for Caroline but for Matt, who was watching the lovebirds with such pain in his eyes that she felt it deep in her soul.

Carly found that her cue to come in, if only to give her friend some reprieve from having to watch his ex-girlfriend making goo-goo eyes at the new kid. "Hey, guys," she greeted, taking an unoccupied chair from an empty table and sliding in between Ari and Elena.

Immediately she was greeted with excited hellos. Caroline and Ari squealed out "bestie!" and embraced her, an embrace that she returned. Bonnie, Matt, and Stefan just smiled at her, and Elena hugged her after Caroline and Ari let go.

"So, what did I miss?" Carly asked, looking curiously at them.

"We were just talking about Stefan's childhood. He was born in Mystic Falls, but moved when he was young, so that's why we never saw him," Caroline answered, filling her in.

Ari giggled, looking up from her phone. "Just like Caroline said earlier at school when she wanted to know more about you," the joyful redhead told Stefan, who looked back at her in confusion.

Caroline glared daggers at Ari, and if looks could kill, Carly would have been short one friend. Carly rummaged in her bag for a minute, then pulled out a coloring book and some crayons. "Ari," Ari looked up when she heard Carly. Carly then pushed the two items over to her and said, "Color the tiger."

"Yay, crayons!" Ari squealed, opening the box before selecting different colored crayons and beginning to color her picture.

Stefan looked back at Carly, who shrugged.

"Anyway, you said that you moved away when you were young. What about your parents? Are they here with you?" Bonnie asked, moving the conversation along before it could get too awkward.

"Uh, no, unfortunately. My parents passed away," Stefan answered, looking a little uncomfortable at giving away that information.

Carly and Elena both looked at Stefan, feeling sympathetic. "I'm sorry," they both said. Stefan gave them a little smile in return, and Elena-to avoid that pity that inevitably follows information like that, something that they hated since they've been there themselves-asked, "Do you have any siblings?"

"None that I talk to," Stefan replied. "I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan," Caroline started, giving him one of her white-teeth Hollywood smiles. "If you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

Carly sighed inwardly as she heard the suggestive tone in the other girl's voice. Caroline was _still _hung up on wanting to date Stefan and no doubt wanted to go with him to the back-to-school party that they had every year.

"Party?" Stefan asked, looking at Elena and Carly. His interest was in Elena, but he liked Carly. She wasn't pushy or overbearing and seemed to give him space. He liked people like that.

"Yeah," Bonnie clarified. "It's a back-to-school thing at the falls. We do it every year."

Ari turned her attention away from her coloring for a minute to chime in, "Yeah, it's really fun! You should come!" She then returned her focus to her drawing and started giggling when she finished. "Look, I made my tiger purple!" The bubbly redhead lifted the coloring book to show the others at the table.

Everyone, even Caroline, who didn't always like Ari, smiled at how joyful she always was. Even when something bad happened, Ari always managed to find some kind of silver lining in it that would make the situation just a little bit better.

Stefan then turned back to the Gilbert twins. "Are you two going?" He asked.

Carly caught a glimpse of Caroline's disappointed face when Stefan didn't even acknowledge her, and she once again felt sympathy for her friend's unrequited feelings. It was hard to be noticed when Elena Gilbert was in the room.

Bonnie cut in before either sister could speak. "Of course they are." She then gave the sisters a look that said 'remember what I said earlier this morning about being happy.'

Carly rolled her eyes and got up to use the restroom. While she was in there, she stared into the mirror and wondered what everyone else saw when they looked at her. Did they just see the edgy twin, the darker half of a whole? Or did that image fade, and did they see the sad little girl still reeling from the death of her parents not even half a year ago? Or maybe, just maybe, did they see something buried beneath all of that? Is it possible for anyone beside her friends and family to see through the facade and get to the girl underneath all of those layers?

Probably not, she thought as she sighed and looked away from the mirror. She wasn't Elena. Sure, people liked her because she's pretty and nice and a good student, but people always preferred Elena to her. Elena was a cheerleader, she was an artist; Elena was more outgoing, she was quieter; Elena was a social butterfly, she was the rung above outcast. People chose Elena; they could take or leave her.

Carly shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. She loved Elena and appreciated the fact that they didn't like the same exact things or acted the same way. She was just sick of people writing her off for her own preferences.

The older Gilbert twin then blew out a long breath before fixing the hair that had fallen in her face and walked out of the bathroom. She then saw Vicki Donovan, Matt's older sister, gathering dirty dishes up and placing it in one of those busboy bins. Vicki looked stressed, not just because of her job, and Carly turned her head to see Jeremy and Tyler, Vicki's boyfriend/lover/whatever and her own ex-boyfriend, arguing with each other. She was too far away to hear what they were fighting about, but rose an eyebrow when her little brother stormed away and Tyler was left standing there, smirking triumphantly.

"Looks like you're in the middle of a triangle," Carly stated nonchalantly, watching as Vicki jumped, startled, and whipped around to look at her.

"Carly," Vicki gasped. "You scared me!"

Carly let a slow grin creep across her face. "I kind of figured I did when you jumped about five feet in the air," she teased, satisfied when Vicki gave a short little laugh in response.

"You're in a love triangle," Carly repeated, looking back at her friend. That's right, you heard that right. Vicki Donovan, resident bad girl and one of the many stoners in Mystic Falls, was her friend. She always had been. Ever since the two girls met when Vicki had to babysit for her, Elena, and Jeremy when they were little, they had had a kinship despite their many differences.

Vicki sighed in frustration. "Yeah, and lucky me, I've got two annoying guys who constantly try to prove who's the alpha." While she was talking, she continued placing dirty dishes into the bin.

Carly shrugged. "Can't be too bad, in a way. I don't even have _one _guy," she meant it as just a passing comment in their conversation, but Vicki froze and gently set down a plate before turning to look at her.

"Carly?" Vicki asked tentatively.

Carly looked up in surprise. She's never really heard that tone from Vicki before. Though she was a little jaded, Vicki's personality fit Caroline's in the sense that they were both super confident in the way that they carried themselves. It was a rare thing when they would ever let their insecurities show. "Yeah?" She asked.

Vicki seemed to hesitate for a moment before she continued, "Why don't you hate me? I mean, I did steal your boyfriend."

Carly sighed. "Vicki, I've told you this before...Tyler and I had problems even before he cheated on me with you. And I know that I should blame you too, and hate you for being the other woman, but I don't. Yeah, you didn't stop it even though you knew he and I were dating, but Tyler was the one who initiated it. He threw caution to the wind and came to you; _he _was the one who ruined our relationship long before he decided that I wasn't enough for him," she said, trying to make Vicki understand that she wasn't the one at fault, not really. Tyler and Vicki having sex while he was still dating Carly wasn't what made her want to break up with him; she had decided long before that that they were done, but her reasoning for it wasn't something that she wanted to explain to anyone. At least not now when she still had so much going on that she had to cope with.

Vicki donned a relieved expression on her face and smiled at the younger brunette. "I'm glad you don't hate me. I'd really hate to lose the only actual friend that I have," she said, and it was true. The stoners were cool, but Carly was the only real friend she had that accepted her, drug addict and all.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go now. See you later at the party," Carly smiled and patted her friend's shoulder before walking back to her table, where she sat, talking to the others until she and Elena left for home.

The next day, Carly was sitting in History, listening to Mr. Tanner-the most annoying douchebag of a teacher that ever lived-drone on and on and on about today's topic, the Battle of Willow Creek. She knew all about the Battle of Willow Creek, but raising her hand was useless in Tanner's class because, apparently, even though she knew the topic and always got good marks on his homework, quizzes, and tests, he never selected her to answer questions. Hey, though, fine by her; gives her more time to work on her sketches.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner was saying as he stood in front of them. "How many casualties resulted in this war? Ms. Bennett?" He asked, not even waiting for any hands to come up.

Bonnie looked up from whatever she was doing. "Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot," she answered. It was obvious that she hadn't been paying attention to the lesson.

Mr. Tanner's face soured-soured? When has it ever been _not _sour?-and he told her, annoyance dripping from every word, "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Then he moved on: "Mr. Donovan?" Matt looked up, and Tanner continued, "Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Matt smirked. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," he replied, and the class laughed in response. Carly grinned from her seat, finishing her sketch and moving on to shading.

"Hmm. Elena?" Elena looked up with a deer-in-headlights expression when she heard Mr. Tanner say her name, and Carly winced a little. This wasn't going to end well.

"Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?" Mr. Tanner's gaze was cold as he regarded the younger Gilbert sister, who seemed to freeze under his scrutiny.

"I'm sorry, I..." Elena looked embarrassed as she searched her classmates' faces before settling them back onto her teacher, slumping dejectedly down in her seat. "I don't know."

Mr. Tanner looked even more annoyed than he did before. "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But personal excuses ended with summer break," he told her coldly, garnering some quiet gasps and shocked looks.

Elena just sat there in shock at what he said to her and devastation at having her parents' death being thrown back into her face like that. Carly, however, was infuriated. How _dare _that asshole say something so insensitive?!

"Personal excuses?" Carly snapped, glaring at Mr. Tanner. "You're calling us still grieving over losing our parents personal excuses? You do realize that our parents have barely been in the ground for four months, right?!" Carly's fury came out in waves, and everyone in the room, especially her twin and her friends, all turned nervously toward her, wondering if the edgy twin was going to become the expelled twin.

"Ms. Gilbert, I would watch your tone if you knew what was good for you," Mr. Tanner warned, looking at her.

Carly was about to say something worse, explode and completely lose her temper, but then a voice spoke up, "346."

Carly, Elena, Matt, Bonnie, Caroline, Ari, Mr. Tanner, and everyone else in the classroom turned their heads to see that Stefan Salvatore had spoken. "What?" Mr. Tanner asked, surprised that someone else had spoken up.

"The casualties, sir. There were 346 casualties in the Battle of Willow Creek, unless, of course, you're counting local civilians," Stefan sounded so nonchalant as he answered Mr. Tanner's question that it made Carly smile.

"That's correct, Mister..." Mr. Tanner trailed off, realizing that he didn't know the new student's last name.

"Salvatore," Stefan said.

"Aren't you supposed to know our last names when we're in your class, Mr. Tanner? Or are our last names just _personal excuses _to you?" Carly said, the biting sarcasm saturating her tone as she questioned her teacher's intelligence. She knew she was getting dangerously close to receiving a detention, but she didn't care; she hated Mr. Tanner but never truly despised or disrespected him until he made that comment about her parents. He crossed a line with that one and she was making sure that he knew that.

Ari elbowed her friend sharply in the ribs, and Carly glared at her.

Mr. Tanner surprisingly ignored her comment and instead asked Stefan, "Salvatore. Any relation to the founding family?"

"Distant," Stefan replied, but Carly furrowed her eyebrows a little bit when she detected just the slightest hesitation in his voice before his answer.

"Well, Mr. _Salvatore_, you're exactly right with the casualties, but there were no civilians in this battle," Mr. Tanner's face was smug as he began to turn around to face the board but Stefan's voice stopped him once again.

"Actually, there were 27 of them, sir. Confederate soldiers fire on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a tragic loss for everyone. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you want to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner," Stefan's mouth was curved into a tiny smirk as he publicly shamed the History teacher.

"Hmm," Mr. Tanner's lips were tightly pursed into a very thin line. He turned back to the board and continued on with the lesson. No more questions came from his mouth for the rest of the period.

Carly's grin hurt her face, it was stretched so wide. She shared a look with Elena before her attention turned back to Stefan. The guy wasn't without his mystery, but he just humiliated Mr. Tanner, something no one has been able to do before, but he just did it so flawlessly that he made it look like he was only trying to be nice and offer information.

Well, that confirms it. Stefan Salvatore was officially (and permanently) on Carly's list of favorite people.


	5. Chapter 5: A Party Gone Wrong

When Carly arrived at the party, she saw Bonnie and Elena together, talking. As she walked toward them, she once again felt that someone was watching her. She looked to the woods, narrowing her eyes when she thought she saw something move, but decided it was just a squirrel or something and approached the girls.

"He's got that romance novel stare," Bonnie was telling Elena.

Elena, however, stopped listening when she saw her sister. "Hey, sis," Elena greeted, pulling Carly in for a hug.

Carly returned her younger sister's hug, rubbing her back a little before pulling away and asking them, "Who has a romance novel stare?"

"Stefan, you know, Elena's new beau," Bonnie answered, giving Elena a teasing grin.

"Okay, don't say beau, that sounds so...old-fashioned," Elena responded, wrinkling her nose a little at the word.

Bonnie just smiled at her. "So where is he?" She asked, looking around. Carly also gave her sister a curious look.

"I don't know," Elena shrugged, then grinned at her best friend. "You tell me, you're the psychic."

"Yeah, Bon-Bon," Carly teased, moving her hands in a mimicry of a fortune-teller rubbing her crystal ball. "Break out your crystal ball and tell us where Elena's lover is." The older twin laughed when Elena hit her for the lover comment.

"Right, I forgot," Bonnie replied, grinning at her friends. "Hold on, Grams says I need to concentrate." She then closed her eyes.

"Wait," Elena said, and Bonnie's eyes opened and gazed at the younger Gilbert sister in confusion.

"You're going to need a crystal ball," Carly finished her twin's sentence, reaching over and grabbing an empty beer bottle before passing it over to the dark-skinned brunette. "Now, Madam Bonnie, work your magic! The Gilbert twins demand it!" She jokingly clapped her hands in a '_chop chop_' manner.

Bonnie and Elena both laughed at her before Bonnie stood there, holding the beer bottle by its neck, and a look of concentration became painted on her face. She spaced out for quite a while, her face blank and her eyes glassy. Suddenly, she blinked a few times and jerked her hands out of the grips of the sisters, as if they burnt her. Her facial expression, too, was peculiar; she appeared disturbed, as if something she saw had greatly unnerved her.

Carly frowned when she saw her friend's reaction. What had she seen that freaked her out so much?

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, also noticing the other girl's change in mood. Her voice was filled with concern, and she moved forward a little bit, wanting to know what happened to make the Bennett girl like this.

Bonnie shook her head slightly. "It was weird, when I touched the two of you, especially Carly, I saw a crow," she said.

"A crow?" Elena asked, confused.

Carly sucked in a little breath, unheard by Elena. A crow? Did she mean the crow that she had seen and fed in the graveyard earlier after school? What was so bad about a little black bird?

Bonnie nodded, still looking perturbed. "Yeah, a crow. And a fog...and a man. Nevermind," Bonnie shook her head and started backing away. "I'm drunk, it means nothing. I'm gonna go get a refill. I'll see you later." She then turned around and hurried away, trying to get as far away from the Gilberts as possible.

"Bonnie!" Both sisters called out, but their friend didn't stop. In fact, she walked faster.

Elena turned to face her sister. "What was that all about?" She asked, incredibly bewildered by the Bennett girl's actions.

Carly shook her head. "I have no idea," she answered, then the girls turned around to see Stefan Salvatore, the very same man they had been searching for just a little while ago.

"Hi," Elena breathed, his presence having slightly startled her.

"Hi," Stefan smiled. "I'm sorry, I did it again, didn't I?" He was referring to him scaring her earlier when they had met in the graveyard, during Carly's art club.

"I'm gonna go," Carly told them before walking away, not even waiting to hear their goodbyes, only focusing on letting the duo have their privacy.

Carly walked throughout the forest, feeling more at peace here than she had coming to the party. It was nice, walking around the winding trees and seeing and smelling the sights of nature. The forest was another place she enjoyed spending her free time in because of the peaceful feeling she got from it. Whenever she was having a bad day, she would come either here or the graveyard and all of her worries would fall away.

Suddenly she stopped when she heard someone coming her way. She froze, staring in disbelief when she recognized him as Tyler Lockwood, her ex-boyfriend. She hadn't spoken to him since she broke up with him when she found out he was cheating on her with Vicki Donovan, the night when she and Elena had gone to the party after skipping out on family game night...the night when their lives changed forever. She hadn't spoken to him, though, with good reason. Tyler had been a jerk even before she found out he had been cheating on her with Vicki, and though Elena was still civil with him and Matt was still his best friend, Carly herself didn't care much for his company, and always made it a point to avoid him even when he wanted to speak to her.

Now, however, she couldn't do that. Especially since he just noticed her standing there.

"Hey, Carly," Tyler grinned, moving toward her.

Carly didn't take a step back, but the look on her face must have made it clear to Tyler that she didn't want him near her because he stopped in his tracks and the grin he wore disappeared. "What do you want, Tyler?" She demanded.

"I don't want anything," Tyler reassured her. "I just came here to talk. I've missed you."

Carly scoffed. "Cut the crap, Tyler," she snapped, glaring at him with more than a little animosity. "You haven't missed me in months, ever since you first cheated on me, and the only time you would is if you were having problems in your little...whatever it is that you have with Vicki. Where is she, by the way? Shouldn't you be off with her?"

Tyler's eyes darkened and his lip curled into a sneer. The anger in his eyes surprised her, and this time she stepped back. She hated Tyler's temper; it was actually part of why she broke up with him. She knew that his home life was unsatisfying, that he had a bad relationship with his father, Mayor Richard Lockwood, and his bond with his mother, Carol, was pretty much broken since she never really helped with his anger issues, instead preferring to shop and-according to Tyler's snide remarks-sleep around with other men instead of trying to find out why her child's default emotional setting was rage.

"Your brother decided that he wanted to be her hero, so I left them," Tyler answered her.

"Hero?" Carly asked, confused. She knew that Jeremy liked Vicki. Hell, he lost his virginity to her (and yes, Jeremy _did _tell her what happened between the two of them) and she's heard of him attempting to convince Vicki to leave Tyler for him, but she didn't think he was trying to be her _hero_.

"Yeah. He's a pain in the ass-"

"Hey! Just a tip: if you're truly trying to make it up to your ex-girlfriend for the crap you've pulled on her-and you're not just trying to be an ass-then I would suggest you not insult her little brother," Carly growled. Yeah, Jeremy's attitude was horrible right now, but that didn't mean that she'd let people badmouth him as if he didn't have good reason to act the way he did.

An irritated expression settled over the youngest Lockwood's face, but he continued on. "Anyway, he saw us kissing against the tree and attacked me," he said, kicking at the dirt at his feet.

Carly rose an eyebrow. Her ex looked more like a child throwing a tantrum in that moment than an actual teenager. Then, her eyes narrowed in thought. While it was true that Jeremy liked Vicki, and that he was jealous of her and Tyler, he doesn't usually attack anyone. He may have changed a lot since the accident, but he hasn't changed _that _much.

"What were you really doing with Vicki?" Carly asked, watching as Tyler turned to look at her.

"What are you talking about?" Tyler demanded.

Carly took a step forward, suddenly feeling a little brave now that they were talking about her brother. She may want to put as much distance between her and Tyler as was physically possible, but she would step in when he began to talk bad about Jeremy. She was a bit of a scrapper, but contrary to what many people believe about her personality as the dark one, she wasn't overly fond of confrontation and preferred to stay away from it. When it came to her siblings, however, Carly would-and has before-be the first one to throw a punch.

"I know my brother enough to know that if he attacked you, it was because you were doing something bad. So what were you doing to Vicki?" Carly demanded. When Tyler avoided her gaze, her eyes widened and horror sat in her stomach like lead. "Were you...were you trying to..." She couldn't finish it, but the question was there.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "We were just kissing, Carly. Yeah, we were against a tree, but she's always said yes before," he said.

"Before doesn't mean right now, Tyler," Carly was disgusted as she heard what he was saying to her. "You were trying to force yourself on her." She was completely horrified. Tyler could be rude and hostile, but she never expected him to try to force a girl-much less someone he was either dating or interested in-into having sex with him. Unable to stomach being around him, she turned on her heel and started walking away.

"Wait!" Tyler ran after her. "Carly, wait!" He reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Don't touch me!" The oldest Gilbert snapped, whipping around and shoving his hand away. "Don't you _ever _touch me again!"

Tyler was shocked at her reaction. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Carly laughed. "First, you tell me that you tried to force yourself on my friend, then you touch me when you know damn well that I don't want you anywhere near me!"

Tyler was about to argue with her, but then they heard commotion going on. They exchanged a look before they rushed over, and Carly gasped when she saw Vicki lying there, blood gushing from her neck. Jeremy, Matt, and Elena were by her side, frantic, while a crowd formed around them. Carly could see one kid dialing 911.

"What happened to her?!" The exes chorused, and Carly rushed over, kneeling by her friend's head and gently moving the body part onto her lap to elevate it in an attempt to help her wound.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Matt demanded, desperate for someone to save his sister.

"Everybody back up!" Tyler shouted, motioning his arms to the side. "Give her some space!"

"It's her neck," Elena gasped, staring at the set of bite marks on the side of the oldest Donovan's neck. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood."

Carly gently put two fingers to the side of her friend's neck, feeling the warmth of her blood and the slight groan of protest from the otherwise unconscious girl. Sure enough, there they were: one set of puncture holes, looking suspiciously like bite marks. Carly frowned in contemplation. Whatever creature that had attacked Vicki was unlike anything she's ever seen. Looking up, her eyes landed on the forest, watching as the same male silhouette she had seen in the cemetery appeared among a thin veil of fog. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, wondering who exactly this man was and if he had anything to do with Vicki's attack.

Stefan stormed into the boarding house, a disturbed expression on his face. Zach, his distant nephew and the only human member of his family, appeared in front of him from upstairs. "What happened?" Zach asked.

"Someone else was attacked tonight," Stefan explained. "And it wasn't me."

With that, he walked into his bedroom, looking around. He froze suddenly, hearing the flutter of wings on his balcony. Slowly he rotated as a black crow flew inside, frowning in displeasure as he recognized a very familiar figure. Right there, clad in black leather and sporting a smirk that accentuated his mischievous blue eyes, was his older brother.

"Damon," Stefan said grimly.

The smirk on Damon's face grew wider when he noticed his brother's discomfort. "Hello, brother," he greeted gleefully.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asked, motioning to the black bird perched on the armchair.

Damon grinned as if he had just cracked a joke. "Wait until you see what I can do with the fog," he picked something up from Stefan's desk, inspecting it for a moment before returning it to its original position.

Stefan walked toward Damon, slowly approaching him like you would a wild animal. "When'd you get here?" He asked cautiously. If he was here as long as he thought he was, then there would be no question who caused the deaths of those two kids earlier and who had attacked Vicki Donovan not even an hour ago.

Damon grinned at Stefan, knowing exactly why he asked but decided he'd play with him a little bit. "Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school," he feigned brotherly concern and sauntered over to a shelf that held some of Stefan's pictures over the years. "Your hair's different," Damon noted, looking at his little brother and clicking his tongue with a smirk. "I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon," Stefan sighed, annoyance mixing with the caution.

"Thank God," Damon sighed, leaning against the wall. "I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you," he laughed and then gave him a mock parental look. "Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." He sounded like a father scolding his teenage son away from drugs. It would have been hilarious if it wasn't so condescending.

"_Why are you here_?" Stefan asked, fed up with the games that his older brother was playing with him.

"I miss my little brother," Damon answered.

"You hate small towns," Stefan pointed out. "It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy," Damon smirked.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "You know, you left that girl alive tonight." He said, trying to find a hole so he can force his brother out of town before he did any more damage. "That's very clumsy of you."

"Yeah, that's going to be a problem...for you," Damon smirked, looking back at him.

Stefan glared at him in frustration. "Why are you here now?" He questioned, wondering just what it was that his brother was planning.

"I could ask you the same question," Damon replied, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards his brother. That smirk stayed on his face as he continued, "However, I'm fairly certain that both of our answers can be summed up in three little words...Carly and Elena."

"They took my breath away, Carly and Elena. They look exactly like Danielle and Katherine. Carly, though, captured my interest more, though I suppose seeing the lookalike of the woman you were going to marry will do that to a man," Damon continued, paying no attention to Stefan's look of disbelief, pacing a little bit on Stefan's floor before he turned back to the younger Salvatore. "They're dead ringers for our lost lovers, Stefan. Is it working? Being in their world? Does it make you feel _alive_?" He grinned tauntingly at the only other vampire in the room.

"Elena is _not _Katherine and Carly is _not _Danielle," Stefan said slowly, wanting Damon to understand that these girls are so much different than the ones they knew in 1864.

"Well, I hope not. We know how that ended," A darkness shadowed Damon's face, his eyes lit with a pained anger. It passed as soon as it came, however, and he asked, "Tell me something. When was the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

Stefan shook his head. "I know what you're trying to do, Damon. It's not going to work," he turned around, starting to walk away.

"Come on, don't you crave a little?" Damon challenged, turning him back around. He started to hit him, ignoring his protests as he went on, "Imagine what Elena's blood tastes like! I can."

"_I said stop!_" Stefan roared, his face transforming into his vampire visage, the eyes turning a blood red and veins webbing around them. He launched himself at Damon, pushing him outside and slamming through the window, sending them both to the ground as shards of glass rained down upon them.

When Stefan rose, Damon was gone. He looked around, his fighter instincts activated on high. He knew that Damon wasn't finished with him. Not by a long shot.

Stefan whipped around when he heard slow clapping. His vampire face disappeared and he breathed heavily from the adrenaline as his brother said, "Impressive. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face agaga thing," he held up his hand and twisted his face to mimic Stefan's before he broke into peals of laughter once again. "It was good."

"It's all fun and games, huh?" Stefan huffed in frustration, staring angrily at the raven-haired vampire in front of him. "Wherever you go, people die."

"That's a given," Damon responded, returning Stefan's stare with a look of feigned innocence.

Stefan shook his head. "Not here. I won't allow it," he said firmly, determined to protect this town and its inhabitants-especially the Gilbert sisters-from his maniac of a brother.

Damon's eyes flashed and a horrible grin grew on his face. "I take that as an invitation," the amusement in his voice at his brother's statement was heavy as he accepted what he deemed to be a challenge to shake up the sleepy small town that Stefan had chosen to settle down in.

"Damon, please!" Stefan pleaded, desperation coloring his tone. "It's been years, can't we just give this whole thing a _rest_?"

"I don't think so," Damon shook his head. "See, I promised you an eternity of misery. I'm just keeping my word."

Stefan looked crestfallen at Damon's rejection, but before he could say anything, the older vampire looked down at his hand and asked, "Where's your ring?"

Stefan gazed down to see that his ring-the piece of lapis lazuli jewelry that was preventing him from combusting during the day-was, in fact, missing from his hand. He must have lost it during the fight!

Damon grinned at his brother's horrified expression, goading him on, "The sun's going to come up in a few hours. When it does...poof!" He laughed when Stefan grew even more panicked...not that he really showed it, but Damon knew how his little brother reacted to things that didn't go according to plan. "Relax. It's right here." He opened his fist to reveal Stefan's ring, feeling the light weight on his palm as he held it out for Stefan to take.

Stefan looked cautiously up at him, refusing to take his ring for a few minutes. But, because self-preservation was kicking in, he gingerly reached out to take the proffered ring. As he slid the ring on his finger, Damon hissed loudly and his own vampire face appeared. His other hand snapped up and grabbed his brother by the throat, lifting him in the air and throwing him a few feet away from the boarding house, where he let out a painful oof as his back met pavement.

Damon walked up and stood over his brother, glaring hatefully down at the lighter brunette. "You should know better than to think that you're stronger than me," he snarled, all the joking pretenses vanishing from his features and instead focusing on the bitterness and rage that had been lingering in him since the day he turned. "You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again."

The lights in the boarding house came on then, and Damon listened for a minute before he grinned. "I think we woke Zach up," he told Stefan, then began walking back to the boarding house, calling up to Zach as he went, "Sorry, Zach!"

All the while, Stefan laid there, wondering just what kind of trouble would come now that his brother was in town.

Carly entered the Grill, looking around for Caroline. She got a call from Bonnie shortly after Elena left to find Jeremy, with Bonnie telling her that Stefan rejected Caroline's advances and that, as a result, she was drinking at the bar. Naturally, Carly arrived to provide comfort to her best friend.

She spotted Bonnie and Caroline sitting at a booth. Bonnie was making her drink glass after glass of water in an attempt to sober her up.

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie was asking as Carly walked up to the booth.

"No," Caroline answered, and Carly winced at her usual cheery friend's miserable tone. It sounded as if Caroline's life had just been destroyed, which, in the sense that she was rejected by a boy she liked, it just had been.

"Well, keep drinking," Bonnie ordered. "I gotta get you home. I gotta get _me _home."

"That won't be necessary, Bon-Bon," Carly commented as she sauntered to their booth, standing next to the seat Bonnie was occupying. "Go on home. I'll take care of her."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked, glancing at the despondent blonde across from her.

Carly nodded. "Go on. Go home. I'll text you when she's safe," she urged.

Bonnie was still a little hesitant, but since she trusted Carly, she gave in and left the Grill.

Carly took Bonnie's empty seat and sat there, not speaking, just watching Caroline. The girls had been friends for years, and, though Caroline was normally a chatterbox, she was quiet when something was really distressing her, and for Caroline Forbes, nothing was more distressing than either a fashion faux pas or a boy's rejection.

Finally Caroline spoke up, her voice raw and throaty from all the alcohol she consumed, as well as from tears that had no doubt been shed beforehand, "Why am I never the one?"

Carly looked back at her best friend. She didn't say anything because she knew exactly what the blonde meant. Why wasn't she like Elena? Perfect, beautiful, straight-A-student Elena, who got all of the boys whether or not she wanted them?

"I'm inappropriate, I say all the wrong things," Caroline continued, her voice saturated with despair. "But Elena says all the right things, all the time. Boys just naturally gravitate toward her. Why do I always get the short end of the stick? Why can't someone just like _me _for once and not her?" Unshed tears welled in those pretty blue eyes as she vented her frustrations to the one person she knew would always be there for her, the one other person who knew what it was like to be in Elena Gilbert's shadow.

Carly was silent. She knew exactly how Caroline felt. As much as she loved her twin, those were questons she asked herself all the time. How could Elena always be the first pick for everything? As twins, Carly and Elena were the closest people anyone had ever seen; they had a bond unlike anything else in the world. Sometimes, however, even Carly had to admit that all the attention Elena got was ridiculous. There were other people besides her...so why didn't anyone acknowledge that?

Finally Carly sighed and leaned forward, taking Caroline's hands in her own. "Care," she said softly, waiting until her friend looked at her. When she did, the oldest Gilbert continued, "I can't tell you that Elena's not always going to be in the spotlight because even I don't think that will happen. What I _can _tell you, though, is that you are a smart, beautiful, wonderful person. You and I have been friends forever, Caroline Forbes, and there is no one else I know who is as loving and loyal a person as you are. Yes, you're high-maintenanced, a little shallow, and you put your foot in your mouth at inopportune moments, but that's all a part of who you are. You are Caroline Forbes: fashionista, Queen Bee, and my best friend in the entire world. You're my sister, Care, and I promise that I will always be here for you. No matter what."

When she finished her speech Caroline had a bright smile that stretched so wide it looked like it hurt her face. Her eyes were still bright and shiny with unshed tears, but this time they were tears of joy that Carly loved her so much instead of the tears of sadness caused by Stefan Salvatore. "I love you, Carly," Caroline croaked, squeezing her hands.

"I love you too," Carly replied. "Now come on. Let's have a sleepover. Cookie dough ice cream, pillow fort, chick flicks, what more could you want?" She started getting up and gathering her stuff.

Caroline nodded, unable to speak from the happiness that had just welled up in her because of her best friend. With a happy sniffle, the blonde also rose to her feet and collected her things. The girls hooked arms and left the Grill, unaware of the raven-haired man at the end of the bar watching them-namely Carly-leave.

Damon sat in his seat at his table, watching Carly Gilbert exit with the annoying blonde who she calls her best friend. A small smile appeared on his face, growing with every second that passed. '_Soon, Carly,_' he thought as the beautiful girl disappeared from his sight. '_We'll meet and then I can make good on what I promised you that night._'


	6. Chapter 6: Strange Hospital Encounters

"I'm home!" Carly called out as she walked through the door of her home, her bookbag strewn across her back and her overnight bag dragging along on the floor.

"In here, ladybug!" Jenna called from the kitchen.

Carly followed her aunt's voice and walked into the kitchen to see her and Elena talking. Jenna was wearing a black dress, red earrings, and had a hair scrunchie in one hand. The outfit had Carly's brows raising.

"Hey, guys," Carly greeted, putting her overnight bag on the chair near the kitchen island before going over to the cabinet and taking out a coffee cup, then moving a couple of doors over to remove a box of cherry Pop-Tarts from the shelf, pulling out one foil package and placing it back where it belongs.

"Hey," Jenna and Elena chorused.

"How was your sleepover with Caroline?" Jenna asked, watching her niece as she unwrapped the foil package and took a bite of her Pop-Tart before fixing her coffee. "I'm guessing it was good."

Carly swallowed and took a sip of her prepared coffee before answering her aunt, "Yeah, we had a lot of fun. It's been a long time since we had one."

"And on a school night, no less. Must have been an emergency," Jenna commented.

Carly didn't respond and instead looked at her aunt's outfit. "So, what's with the getup?" She asked, continuing to have her breakfast.

"Right. Jeremy's parent/teacher conference. Hair up or down?" The blonde asked, first bunching all of her hair up on top of her head in a bun and looking expectantly at her nieces.

Elena and Carly shared a look. "Sexy stewardess," Elena said.

Jenna released her hold on her hair, the wavy locks falling down her shoulders.

Carly grinned. "Boozy housewife," she teased.

Jenna smiled. "Up it is," she tied her hair in a bun. "You two are feisty today."

"I feel good, which is rare," Elena answered. "So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk with the sunshine, and all that." She finished her own breakfast and placed her bowl that once had her cereal into the sink.

Jenna's gaze turned to Carly, who shrugged and said, "I spent the night with Caroline Forbes. That girl is the Queen of Feisty."

Jenna laughed.

"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asked.

"He left early. Something about getting to wood shop to finish a birdhouse," Jenna answered.

The kitchen went silent, and the twins both shared a knowing look before turning back to their aunt, whose changing expression confirmed to them that she had only just realized that she'd been duped.

"There is no wood shop, is there?" Jenna asked quietly.

The twins shook their heads. "No," Elena confirmed, the only one to reply.

"Yeah," Jenna muttered, looking ashamed of herself for having fallen for her nephew's trick.

Carly finished her breakfast and placed her coffee cup and plate in the sink, going over to kiss her aunt's cheek. "It's okay, Aunt Jenna," she told her, gently rubbing her shoulder. "If it's any consolation, I think you're doing a great job."

Jenna gave her a half-smile. "Thanks, ladybug," she said.

Carly smiled and left for school with her sister.

Carly, once again, was in Tanner's History class. And just like every other time she was forced to hear this jackass's droning voice for the forty-minute-long period, she was doodling in her notebook, sketching out a landscape of Mystic Falls Cemetery. Trees lined the page, the gravestones peaking out from behind them. The grass was the same faded green color it usually was in the after hours, when the sun was beginning to set and darkness was falling across the land. This picture, though, was unlike the other times she's drawn her favorite hangout place. This picture included fog, a thin gray shading that covered the entire page, and the crow that she had fed the day before.

Carly found herself adding in one more feature: a pair of eyes. A deep, piercing blue like the color of ice, those eyes seemed to stare into her soul as they peered up at her from the page, right in the center of her picture and standing out from every other element.

She frowned a little in concentration, wondering just exactly who those blue eyes belonged to...and why she felt as if she knew who this person was.

"Am I bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?"

Carly looked up in surprise when she heard Mr. Tanner's annoying and pompous voice suddenly ring out louder than it had when his lecture started. She had been so focused in her drawing that she had completely tuned out everything around her. Looking over, she saw Stefan and Elena drop their eyes to their desks, looking uncomfortable at being called out in class. Apparently the two lovebirds had been staring at each other for most of the lesson, probably for as long as Carly had been sketching.

The bell rang at that very moment, and they all gathered their things and walked out, the previously empty hallways soon becoming overrun with students pushing and pulling to get to where they needed to be. Carly went to her locker and leaned against it for a minute before she started taking out the books she needed for her next class. Removing her sketchbook, she opened it to look at her latest drawing. Cradling the book in her arm, she rose her hand from her side and placed it on her drawing, her fingertips gently stroking over the environment that was now immortalized on paper. Her fingers stopped when she came back to the eyes. That gorgeous pair of blues mesmerized her and made her heart skip a beat. She knew that whoever those eyes belonged to was going to be the one to change her life...

"Hey!" A happy voice chirped from behind her.

Carly jumped a bit and turned around to see Ari standing there. The perky redhead was grinning widely, holding up a coloring book. "Look at my lobster, he's blue!" The excitement and pride in her voice made Carly smile.

"I see that," Carly grinned, shutting her locker. "What did you name him?" Ari always liked naming her pictures once she was finished coloring them. According to Ari, it made them more real.

"I call him Blue," Ari replied.

"How original," Carly teased, her own smile growing wider when her friend laughed.

Ari giggled and closed her coloring book before she motioned to the sketchbook the brunette was holding. "Have you drawn anything new?" She asked, knowing fully well that her best friend was the artistic type, much like she was.

Carly smirked. "Are you kidding? I just came from Tanner's class. I _always _have something new," she remarked, opening her sketchbook and showing the redhead the sketch she had been working on.

Ari's jaw dropped in awe at her friend's sketch. "Wow," she breathed. "That's amazing. You could probably get these published in an art gallery, Char."

Carly smiled, both at Ari's compliment and the fact that she called her Char, a name only Ari called her. "You think so?" The older twin asked.

Ari nodded as Carly pulled the sketchbook away from her line of sight and closed it again. Ari then asked, her expression transforming into something so serious that it was almost uncharacteristic for the cheerful girl, "Who do you think attacked Vicki last night?"

Carly sighed and slumped against her locker, the coolness from the metal seeping into her back through her hoodie. It felt oddly comforting. "I don't know," Carly answered. "But I'm going to go up today after school to see how she's doing. Do you want to come with me?"

Ari shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Not today. Mom wants me to come straight home so I can babysit my brothers. It's one of her late shifts tonight," she answered, and Carly nodded in understanding. Sarah Walker, Ari's mother, worked with Sheriff Forbes at the station. She'd often get home late, so Ari had to go home to take care of her little brothers, nine-year-old Bradley and five-year-old Tate, until she returned. If Ari's dad, Andrew, had the day off, he would do it, but today was one of those days where he was working at his job as a mechanic, so the responsibility was left to Ari.

"I'll text you, then," Carly offered.

Ari nodded, brightening up again. "Kk! I got to go to Choir now, so see ya!" The redhead gave her best friend another enthusiastic hug before she took off down the hall.

After school, Carly drove up to the hospital and walked up to the nurse's desk. "Excuse me," she said.

The nurse, a small woman with blonde hair and green eyes, looked up and smiled. "Hi, Carly. What can I do for you?" She asked. Given Grayson Gilbert's profession, a lot of medical personnel were acquainted with the Gilbert siblings.

"I'm here to see Vicki Donovan," Carly answered politely.

The nurse typed a few things into her computer. "She's in room 204," she informed after a few minutes.

"Thank you," Carly smiled at her before taking off to walk down the hall. As she walked, she wondered about her wound. Two puncture holes could mean a lot of things. It could be a snakebite, but snakes don't normally bite a person on the neck, they usually go for the ankles or the feet, sometimes the legs. The next thing she could think of were needles. They make puncture holes when they're pushed into a person's skin, but if it was a needle it would have been in her arm or her wrist...and there would only be _one _hole, not two.

In the back of her mind she thought maybe...possibly...it could be a vampire. The holes were on her neck and they were big enough to be from fangs. '_No, that's silly,_' Carly reprimanded herself. '_Vampires aren't real._' But she still couldn't help but wonder...

A scream ripped through the air. "Vicki!" Carly cried out in concern, rushing toward her friend's room just as Matt tore out of it, yelling for a nurse. She was about to follow him to see what happened when she saw Stefan slip into Vicki's room. Narrowing her eyes in confusion, the brunette walked forward and stood, peeking out from the doorway.

Stefan was leaning over, his head bowed slightly toward Vicki, as if he was telling her some sort of secret. Carly watched as Stefan then moved away from her and started to turn around. Carly's eyes widened and she moved behind the door, maneuvering herself in between the door and the wall so that she was hidden from view. She listened as Stefan fast walked out of Vicki's room. Hearing his footsteps fade, she stepped out from behind the door and watched as Matt came up with a nurse.

"It's my sister," Matt was saying as he led the nurse into Vicki's room. Carly noticed that it was the same woman from the nurse's desk.

"She seems fine," the nurse told him and Carly looked into Vicki's room window to see that she was right. Vicki was completely calm now, she was even sleeping, and Carly's eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment at the sudden change. What just happened?

A few hours later, Carly was sitting in one of the chairs in the room. After she announced her presence to Matt, he let her stay and they sat and talked for awhile, even laughing at some things the other said. They hadn't talked for such a long time that they almost forgot what it felt like to be friends. It felt good now that they had some time to themselves to rekindle their friendship.

Currently Matt was lying in his chair sleeping while she was in hers, finishing up her new sketch. Looking up when she heard rustling, she saw Vicki sitting up in bed, wide awake.

"Hey, Vick," Carly said, smiling, putting away her sketchbook now that she saw her friend had returned from dreamland.

"Carly!" Vicki looked so happy to see her. "You came to visit me?"

"Of course I did, you're my friend. I was worried about you," Carly responded, reaching over to pat her friend's hand.

Vicki smiled sweetly back at her before her eyes landed on her younger brother. She snorted, watching as he slept. "Look at that, sleeping like a log," she shook her head, feigning disgust.

Carly laughed. "Maybe you should wake him up. Why should his eyes be closed while ours are open?" She joked, and the two girls laughed before Vicki grabbed her jello cup and threw it at the blonde boy sitting at the other side of his sister's bed.

Carly snickered as Matt startled awake. "What the...?" He muttered in confusion, seeing the congealed fruit-flavored mass sitting in his lap.

"Finally. We thought you'd never wake up."

Matt looked up and saw Vicki and Carly grinning at him. The food tray next to him was completely empty so he could safely assume from that-and how Vicki's grin was much larger and more Cheshire-like than the Gilbert twin's sitting in the chair on her other side-that Vicki was the one who threw the cup at him.

"Hey," Matt smiled, moving in his seat so he could sit closer to her. "How are you feeling?" Without waiting for her to answer he continued, "You look better. I was worried before. You really had me freaked out with all that screaming." He looked so concerned about her that it made Carly smile. It really felt good to see that she and her siblings weren't the only ones who had a strong family bond, especially since Vicki and Matt's mom, Kelly, was pretty much a deadbeat.

Vicki's face grew confused as he talked. "Wait, what are you talking about?" She asked, referring to the screaming part.

Carly stared back at her friend in equal confusion, but that confusion was for the older girl and why she couldn't remember when she woke up screaming.

Matt shared her sentiment and asked his sister, "You don't remember?"

"I feel fine," Vicki replied, giving her brother a weird glance.

That confused look remained on Matt's face but he decided not to push further. "Good, good. Doctor said you could come home." Matt hesitated for a moment before his question spilled from his lips, "Vick, what attacked you out there?"

Carly watched Vicki hesitate. She looked as if she was straining to remember something important, and the oldest Gilbert flashed back to when she saw Stefan earlier talking to Vicki, something that the older Donovan clearly doesn't remember.

"An animal," Vicki finally answered, her voice soft and slow like how someone's usually was when they couldn't remember something important to them. "What else could it be?"

The door suddenly opened before Matt or Carly could say anything, and all three of them looked up to see Jeremy standing there in the doorway.

"Hey," Jeremy said, realizing that Matt and Carly were there but not caring. He was only thinking of making sure that his crush was alright. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay," Vicki answered. Carly watched as her friend once again slipped into the cool, indifferent state she always did whenever she was faced with something that made her nervous or uncomfortable.

Matt glanced back and forth between Vicki and Jeremy, then glanced over at Carly, feeling suspicious on why Jeremy was there. Sure, he was the one who found Vicki and helped bring her to the hospital, but the blonde jock had a feeling that there was something more to the story. Rising from his seat he announced, "I'm gonna...I'm gonna go...get a coffee." Walking toward the door, he greeted Jeremy, "Hey, Jer."

"I need to run an errand," Carly said, also rising and leaving but not before giving her brother a meaningful glance.

As Carly bid her goodbyes to Vicki on her way out and then to Matt, she walked down the hallway of the hospital corridor. As she made her trek out of the building, she wondered just what it was that Stefan did to Vicki. When she arrived, Matt was getting a nurse because his sister woke up screaming and wouldn't calm down. Then Stefan arrives to talk to her and, when she woke up hours after he left, she was fine. She was peaceful, sarcastic, joking around...just her normal Vicki Donovan self. She couldn't remember what happened to her, though; it was as if that part of her memory had been wiped clean.

She didn't know what exactly Stefan had done to her friend, but as she drove down the road to her house, Carly knew one thing for sure:

She was going to pay a visit to Stefan Salvatore.


	7. Chapter 7: The Blue-Eyed Man

"We're going to Stefan's," Carly announced as she barged into Elena's room.

Elena looked up at her twin from where she was sitting on her bed. Her legs were pulled up to her chest and her diary was balanced on her knees. Her pen was gripped in her hand, and she appeared to have just finished writing a new entry when her sister let herself in. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

Carly grabbed Elena's leather jacket that was lying on her desk chair and threw it at her. Her twin made a surprised squeak when the article of clothing hit her in the face.

"We're going to Stefan's," Carly repeated, reaching over and closing Elena's diary before placing it on her desk, the pen quickly becoming a bookmark. "I need to talk to him about something and you need to tell him how you feel so you don't do the whole 'I-like-you-but-I'm-too-afraid-to-put-myself-out-there' phase that absolutely no one wants to see."

"Carly, we can't go," Elena protested. "He never invited us to his house."

Carly scoffed. "Oh, please," she replied. "You don't need an invitation to go to his house to talk about your feelings. Come on! We know where he lives and he'll be happy to see you; chop chop! We're burning daylight with your laziness!" She sauntered over to her twin's door.

"You're so bossy," Elena complained as she shrugged on her jacket.

"Yes, but I'm older than you," Carly sang as she walked out the door, laughing when she heard her sister's exasperated groan at the reminder that Carly was, in fact, the oldest of the three siblings.

Carly came downstairs to see her aunt at the kitchen island, munching dejectedly on a box of nachos with extra cheese. She looked frustrated and absolutely exhausted, like she'd stayed up all night working on an important assignment only to find out the next day that it was cancelled and that she'd done all that work for pretty much nothing. Carly took a deep breath and blew it out softly. She knew the reason why her aunt had that look, and that reason was a six-letter word with J in the beginning and y in the ending.

"Aunt Jenna," Carly said, stepping off of the last step and walking over to the blonde.

Jenna started a little bit, having been so deep in her thoughts that her niece's voice scared her. "Hey, kiddo," she said after taking a moment to calm her racing heart. "What's up?"

"I should be asking _you _that question," Carly sat down on the stool across from her. "Jeremy again?"

Jenna hung her head and slumped her shoulders as she slid deeper into her own stool. "He's just so frustrating! I know that he's trying to cope by getting high and everything, but he isn't responding to me or to you or Elena or anyone else who wants to help him!" Jenna's voice grew louder in her despair, and Carly's face softened in sympathy. It was hard, raising teenagers...especially when those teenagers just lost their parents.

"Jenna," Carly spoke seriously, and Jenna looked up in surprise when she didn't hear the 'Aunt' attached to it. Unlike Jeremy and Elena, who both had the tendency to call her by her first name only, Carly had always called her Aunt Jenna. Hearing her oldest niece address her in such a way both surprised and intrigued her; what she wanted to say must be really important in order for her to call her anything but what she normally did.

Carly leaned forward, placing her arms on the table and lacing her hands together so they looked like fists. "Jeremy doesn't want to be helped right now. He's angry and hurt and even though it's not the best option, getting high and skipping class is his coping mechanism. Being a jerk is covering up his feelings and putting them aside until he's ready to face what happened. Yeah, he should confide in us instead of in cigarettes and drugs, but he's just not ready yet," the oldest Gilbert told her aunt. She hoped that what she was saying was true, but she didn't let her reluctance show on her face. That would completely defeat the purpose of trying to comfort Jenna.

"What if he's never ready?" Jenna quietly asked, voicing the worries that's been bouncing around in Carly's own head since the day she found out about Jeremy's little not-so-secret.

Carly opened her mouth but before she had a chance to answer, steps echoed down the stairs, and Elena appeared at the base, brushing her fingers through her hair. She had on her leather jacket and her tennis shoes now covered her feet instead of her socks. "Ready to go?" Elena asked, walking over to Carly.

"Wait, where are you two going?" Jenna asked, her distress from being unable to help Jeremy being replaced with curiosity once she realized that Carly and Elena were leaving the house.

"The Salvatore boarding house," Carly answered, pulling herself away from the island.

"Why are you going there?" Jenna's confusion grew, her eyebrows and nose doing the same scrunch thing that Carly's always did when she was puzzled.

"The new kid, Stefan, he lives there. We're going over to talk to him," Carly explained.

"And by going over, she means we're trespassing," Elena chimed in.

Carly rolled her eyes at her sister and told Jenna, who was now looking at her expectantly, "We're not trespassing. We just want to have a pleasant conversation with Elena's future boyfriend."

Elena smacked her arm hard before grabbing it and dragging her out the door, ignoring Jenna's yells for them to come back and explain why they never told her that Elena was getting a new boyfriend.

"So, what do you need to ask Stefan?" Elena asked her twin as Carly drove down the road, their GPS informing them on exactly where they needed to go.

Carly took a deep breath, grateful for the break in silence. The car accident had given her major panic attacks-like the one she had on the first day of school-and it was hard for her sometimes to be in a car, much less drive one. She took medication for her anxiety, obviously, but background noise made it easier for her to cope with her trauma. Some people would say not to talk to the driver if they don't want to fall into a ditch, but her concentration was just fine even with music on or someone chatting her ear off. It was the panic attacks that threatened her, and if she stayed in silence in a car for too long, her hands would start shaking and it would get worse until she _was _in danger of veering her car off the road; because of that, it was usually a good idea to have the radio on or, if she had someone with her, for them to start talking to her. Carly knew that this was just a temporary fix; the anxiety would die down soon and she'd be able to drive in silence without collapsing into a broken mess. She was just grateful that, until that happened, she had a remedy that worked without fail.

Carly then thought of how she was going to answer her sister. Would she even believe her since her theory was that vampires somehow existed and one had attacked Vicki at the party? It was unbelievable, impossible even; bloodsucking creatures only existed in stories, stories that would scare children into obeying their parents or for teenagers to frighten their friends during sleepovers. But how couldn't it be true, with those marks on Vicki's neck and the fact that now she can't remember anything from the night before ever since Stefan snuck in to see her?

"Carly?"

Carly broke from her musing at her twin's prompting. She looked over at Elena before turning her eyes back to the road and answering, "He was at the hospital today to see Vicki. I wanted to ask him why."

Carly didn't have to look at Elena to know that she was confused. "Why wouldn't he? He was wondering how she was."

"It's just that..." Carly trailed, shaking her head. "Did Matt tell you anything about how she was doing?" She asked, knowing that even though there was still tension between them, Matt and Elena were beginning to talk more.

"Yeah," Elena replied. "We talked about it earlier. He told me that Vicki said a vampire attacked her. I said that it was silly." The brunette paused and then asked her twin, "Why do you ask?"

Carly paused for a moment, considering. Then she went on, "Do you think there is any truth to it?"

"What? Vampires?"

Carly nodded.

"I don't think so," Elena answered. "How could there be? People are born and then they die; they don't live forever."

Carly didn't speak; she didn't have a chance to for she saw the boarding house come into view.

"Wow," Elena breathed.

"Wow is right," Carly responded as she gazed at the house. It was a rather large, long structure, splitting into three separate sections. The middle section was where the entrance was located. There was a wooden arch that spanned across that part of the roof before running into two pillars on both sides of the door. The left and right sides of the house were spotted with windows and there were other arches-arches that looked more like what you would find on the exterior of a balcony-located near the entrance. It was made up of a reddish-brown brick exterior, and the shingles of the roof were covered in both light and dark shades of gray. A chimney topped off the roof, giving the boarding house a rather homey feel.

Carly was the first to break out of her revered state. She looked at her twin. "Ready?" She asked.

Elena returned her stare. "Not really," she admitted. Her sister gave her a sympathetic smile and squeezed her hand before they both left the car. Walking up the drive, the twins stood in front of the door and Elena took the initiative this time by reaching out and knocking. Instead, however, of Stefan or even his uncle Zach answering, the door slowly creaked open.

"How horror movie is that?" Carly snorted. "Next thing you know, there will be an audience screaming 'don't go in there!' while a guy wearing a mask of human flesh is waiting to jump out at us with a chainsaw."

Elena threw the older brunette an annoyed glance. "You're not helping," she scolded.

Carly shrugged.

Elena then stepped forward and entered the house. "Stefan?" She called out. "Stefan?"

"And _you _were the one worried about trespassing," Carly muttered as she, too, entered the boarding house.

There was a loud caw and a flutter of wings, and Carly smiled when she saw the same crow that she had fed in the cemetery perch itself on the fireplace of the living room as if it belonged there. "Hey, boy," she cooed. The crow tilted its head at her.

Elena was about to comment, but then they both felt something behind them and whipped around, only to come face to face with a tall, mysterious man with raven hair and ice blue eyes, a man who was most certainly _not _Stefan Salvatore.

Carly's breathing hitched as she stared at the man, not even hearing Elena nervously apologize for barging in. He looked so familiar to her, and she felt something drawing her to him, something deep and dark and mysterious, something she couldn't even begin to understand. And his eyes...those eyes were the same eyes she had drawn in her sketchbook today in History...

Carly snapped out of her daze when the man began talking. "You must be Elena," he was saying, addressing her sister. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

"Stefan didn't tell me he had a brother," Elena replied.

"No, he said that he didn't have any siblings that he _talked to_," Carly corrected. "Big difference."

Damon smirked at her. "Either way, Stefan's not one to brag." Then he walked over to Carly, and lifted her hand to press a gentle kiss to it, his eyes never moving from hers. After lingering his lips there for an extra few seconds, he held her hand in his. "And you must be Carly. I'm Damon, and might I say that you are the prettiest girl I've ever seen." His voice was a velvety purr that was as smooth as any ice pond.

Carly rose an eyebrow. Her heart still felt like a jackrabbit just tapping away at her ribcage, but she managed to compose herself enough to reply, "What a charmer. Do you talk to all the girls like this, or just the ones you want to get with?" She pulled her hand away, placing it on her hip while her other one hung down by her side. "And just so you know, I heard you the first time you introduced yourself; there's no need to do it again." Her voice was sassy and teasing, the little smile she was giving him just as playful. She knew that she was flirting with him, but from the looks of it, he was enjoying it and somewhere deep down...she had to admit that she was too.

"You. I like you," Damon told the older Gilbert, winking at her. "I'm gonna keep you."

"Thanks, but I don't know if I like _you _yet," Carly teased, her own grin still in place. She knew that Elena was staring back and forth at them in curiosity, but she couldn't find it in herself to care or to be embarrassed that she was pulling a Caroline and flirting with someone she just met. She felt a connection to Damon; she didn't know why, but she did.

"Please, come," Damon said, motioning them to move further into the house. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

"Wow," Elena breathed, looking around. "This is your living room?"

Carly looked around, too. It was a very nice living room. There was a nice, red rug covering much of the room, and Carly saw little swirls and designs of gold embedded in the fabric. A coffee table and two benches sat on top of it, and from there the room seemed to split into a nearly symmetrical fashion. Two red, rather comfy looking chairs sat on either side of a homely fireplace, out at the moment but the wooden logs were there for when the room needed to be lit. Mirrors hung on both sides beside stained glass windows, its red curtains pulled away so they could be exposed to the world. Lamps sat in front of the mirrors, and there were two more on one side of both the couches. The couches, however, were the only parallel. On one side was a regular couch, but the other was leather; both were red. On the other side of the leather couch, the side closest to the three of them, was another lamp resting on top of a small side table. It really was quite a beautiful living room.

Carly could feel Damon come up behind her, and looked down when she felt his hand brush against the small of her back. A tingling, almost electric feeling ran across her skin and deeper into her bloodstream. Her eyes rose, moving from that area and slowly up muscular arms that were emphasized by the black shirt he wore. Her gaze stopped when blue eyes met her own brown. He had a small smile on his face and was watching her with a soft look before it broke and he turned to address Elena.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste," Damon said uncaringly, shrugging off the slightly younger brunette's amazement with indifference. Then a smirk grew and he told her, "I can see why Stefan's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I thought he'd never get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

Carly snapped her eyes over to him, staring in suspicion. His voice was conversational, but she could sense that his intentions weren't pure by bringing this subect up, not for Elena and especially not for Stefan. That made her wonder, too...why would he mention a past relationship to her sister when she and his brother weren't even officially together yet? What did he have to gain by that? And what kind of hidden anger did he have towards Stefan that would even make him _want _to tell Elena about an old girlfriend?

"The last one?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" Damon looked back to see an uncomfortable expression settle over Elena's face. She awkwardly stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." A tiny glitter of mischief appeared in his eyes, and Carly's frown deepened. He was _definitely _doing this on purpose.

Elena looked up at the ceiling as a way to avoid the older Salvatore's gaze. "Nope," her voice went a couple of octaves higher than how it usually was from her discomfort.

"Oops. Well, I'm sure that it'll come up now," Damon shrugged. "Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think that he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end." His voice had a lilt to it, like he was enjoying the little game he was playing.

Carly crossed her arms over her chest, shifting so that she was balancing her weight on her other foot. "Hey, listen," Carly interrupted before Elena could speak. When she had their undivided attention she continued, "I don't know what your deal is with your brother, but this is _my _sister you're talking to, so I suggest you butt out of whatever relationship they have and let them talk these things out themselves. You're just trying to cause trouble." Carly's tone was colder than ice and harder than any rock. Damon may be cute, but he was messing with Elena, and if it was one thing that made the oldest Gilbert into a mama bear, it was someone screwing with her siblings.

"Easy, Wild One, I'm just trying to look after my brother," Damon told her, holding up his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture.

Carly scoffed. "Yeah, right," she muttered.

Elena turned to the older Salvatore and, before her sister could chew him out again, stated, "What you said about rebound relationships ending...you say that as if every relationship is doomed to fail."

Damon shrugged. "I'm a fatalist," he explained, his face as emotionless as it was when he first mentioned Katherine. Then, without looking behind him, he greeted, "Hello, Stefan."

Carly and Elena were both startled when they saw that Stefan was, in fact, standing in the doorway. They watched as Stefan's stormy expression broke and turned void upon seeing his brother. It was obvious that he was angered by Damon's presence but didn't want to show it in front of the two girls.

'_What happened between them that made them like this?_' Carly thought, her eyes moving from Stefan to Damon and back again.

"Elena, Carly. I didn't know you were coming over," Stefan spoke in a controlled voice. You know, that kind of voice that only someone incredibly pissed off used when they were trying very hard to not let the other people in the room know that they were angry at them.

Elena looked nervously back at him. "I know," she stammered, trying to placate him. "We should have called, we just..."

Before Carly could rescue her sister from this awkward-and quite frankly, uncomfortable-situation, Damon jumped in, "Oh, don't be silly. You and your incredibly beautiful and lovely sister-" he winked flirtatiously in Carly's direction, smirking widely when the older Gilbert rolled her eyes. "are welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." His tone was playful and his eyes were mischievous as he spoke, but the tension didn't dissipate. In fact, his input only made things worse if Stefan's darkening expression was anything to go by.

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena, Carly. It was nice to see you two," Stefan said tightly.

"Yeah, we should probably go," Elena said quickly. Looking back at Damon she told him, "It was nice meeting you, Damon."

"Great meeting you too, Elena," Damon then turned around to face Carly. Taking her hand in his, he gently kissed it again. "You as well, Carly."

Carly pressed her lips together, her heartbeat doing that weird little flop again from when he kissed her earlier. She nodded and pulled her hand away, walking over to where her sister was now standing in front of Stefan, calling his name to try to get him to move.

"Stefan, please move," Carly told him, coming up and placing a protective hand on Elena's back.

Stefan said nothing, instead moving away and never breaking his gaze from his brother, and the twins left, leaving the two Salvatores alone.

Later that night, after returning from the boarding house, Carly was heating up a bowl of leftover spaghetti in the microwave while Elena and Jenna were talking about their strange first visit to Casa Salvatore.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena was telling their aunt as she mixed chocolate syrup from a squeeze bottle into her oatmeal.

"Hey, at least they're rebound issues. Wait until you get a guy who has mommy issues or cheating issues..." Jenna trailed off, sidling up to her younger niece and leaning against the counter, an apple in her hand. She thought about it for a minute, then continued, "or amphetamine issues."

Elena's nose scrunched, and Carly turned around from the microwave, eyebrows raised as she looked at Jenna. "You really had a great run with the guys, huh, Aunt Jenna?" Her tone was extremely sarcastic as she commented on her aunt's dating history.

Jenna stuck her tongue out at her. "Eat your spaghetti," she ordered.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Yes, Aunt Jenna," she playfully mocked, turning around as the microwave hit zero. She opened the door and took out her bowl, pouring on Parmesan cheese and tossing it for a few seconds. Taking her bowl in her hands, she guided it over to place it on the table, the intoxicating fumes of marinara and cheese and garlic wafting to her face, making her inhale deeply in pleasure and her mouth water. Sitting down on the stool on Jenna's other side, she grabbed her fork and started eating, almost moaning from the taste that assaulted her tongue as she consumed one of her very favorite foods in the entire world.

She was broken out of her spaghetti-loving haze when the door opened and closed. Carly looked up, spotting Jeremy coming in through the door. She didn't know whether or not he was trying to sneak in, but his hood was up and his clothes were dark, so sneaking in was a possibility. She looked over to see that Elena and Jenna also noticed the youngest Gilbert's entrance.

Jenna immediately donned an angry expression. "Jeremy?" She called out. Jeremy looked at his aunt for a moment, but then began walking in the direction of the stairs. "Jeremy! Where were you?!" Jenna demanded, storming after her nephew, the apple still in her hand.

"More stoner stories?" Jeremy groaned in exasperation, looking back at his aunt from his position halfway up the staircase as Carly came over to stand by her side. "Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool once and that's...that's cool," he gave her a thumbs-up and such a dopey grin on his face that there was definitely no denying to both aunt and niece that he was higher than outer space. He started to turn back around.

"No, no, no!" Jenna threw the apple in her hand at her nephew's head, the fruit projectile hitting its mark and making a thud sound as it bounced off and rolled over the steps until it stopped at the base.

"Really, Aunt Jenna?" Carly rolled her eyes and the older blonde shrugged.

"Ow!" Jeremy rubbed the back of his head and looked back at her. "Why...why would you do that?" His voice was slurred from both whatever drug he did during the night and confusion on why he had an apple launched at his head.

"Listen up!" Jenna barked, regaining his attention. "Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion," she said firmly, giving him the sternest glare she's ever given anyone before in her life.

Carly looked at her aunt, wondering just what it was that Tanner told her during the parent/teacher conference that she had earlier that morning. Normally Jenna was very lenient with them, but now she was acting just like how a mother would.

Jeremy stared at her for a few seconds in shock before a wide grin bloomed across his face. "Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." He continued walking upstairs until he disappeared around the corner.

Jenna growled in frustration and stormed back into the kitchen. Carly looked back into the kitchen and then at the stairs. Sighing, the brunette re-entered the kitchen and ate the rest of her spaghetti, placing the bowl in the sink and washing it before making her way up to her brother's room. If she was correct in her assumptions-based on what she's seen from him, of course-he would be somewhat sober enough to talk to by now.

Carly reached out and softly rapped her knuckles against her little brother's door. She heard some rustling before Jeremy's voice called out, "Yeah?"

"Jer, it's Carly. Can we talk?" She asked softly, gently, so he knows that she came in peace. She was hoping for a positive reaction, but would understand if he refused to allow her entry. She was pretty bitchy to him yesterday in the boys' bathroom.

A few minutes of silence from his end before she heard his answer, "Yeah."

A wide smile stretched her mouth, and Carly opened his door, stepping inside and closing it behind her. Jeremy had been lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling when she knocked; when he saw her come in, though, he sat up. He was still dressed in what he had worn when he came home, the only difference being that his hood was down. His hair was messy and his eyes a little red but not the glassy, bloodshot look that she noticed half an hour earlier.

"Hey," Carly said, smiling at him.

"Hey," Jeremy replied, staring at her for a few minutes before tentatively asking, "Are you going to yell at me again?"

Carly winced at that. It was a fair question, given the freak-out that she had in the boys' bathroom. "No. I just wanted to talk to you, explain myself," she answered, sitting on her brother's bed, who moved his legs so she could have room.

"What do you mean explain yourself?" Jeremy asked.

Carly sighed and looked down at her hands, which she placed in her lap, before she lifted her gaze to meet his. "It wasn't my intention to freak out on you. When Elena and I went in to confront you about doing drugs at school, I wanted to sit back and watch so I could pull her back if she was going too far. I know that you're not okay...and I know that this is your method of coping. I should have remembered that before I went psycho, but..." she trailed off, biting her lip a little as she dropped her eyes to her hands again.

Jeremy waited, but when it became apparent that his sister wasn't going to continue, he prompted her, "But what?"

Carly swallowed past the lump in her throat. Looking up at her brother, she said, "I had a panic attack in Bonnie's car that morning." Ignoring Jeremy's wide eyes she went on, "A crow hit her windshield while we were talking, and that was it. My chest tightened, I was hyperventilating, and all I could feel was the agony of water filling my lungs and that horrible claustrophobia. I'm sorry, Jer; panic attacks always put me on edge and I snap whenever I have one. My emotions get heightened and my rationality goes out the window."

"So that's why you freaked," Jeremy murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself. "You couldn't control yourself."

"I couldn't," his sister confirmed. "I mean, I hate watching you take this path, but I promised myself that I wouldn't try to force you to stop. I don't want to bury my brother like I had to bury my parents, but I know that it won't end well if I push. On that note, I came in here to apologize for the bathroom incident yesterday. If I hadn't been so high-strung from that panic attack, I would have been more understanding," Carly then gave her little brother a tiny smile and asked, "Do you forgive me for being such a psychotic bitch?"

Jeremy was silent for so long that Carly was almost afraid that he wouldn't forgive her, but then he smiled and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I forgive you."

Carly smiled. "I love you, Jer," she said softly, bringing him in for a hug.

Jeremy slowly brought his arms up and wrapped them around his sister. "I love you too, Car Car," he replied, using her childhood nickname.

Carly held her little brother for a few moments longer before she got up and bade him goodnight before leaving his room.

_September 8, 2009_

_ Today was interesting, to say the least._

_ I'll start with what I believe is the most important part: I made up with my brother. Sure, we didn't have a knock-out, drag-out fight like siblings usually do. We didn't wrestle on the floor or hit each other in the mouths or anything of that nature, but we did have a bit of a wall between us since I screamed at him yesterday morning in the boys' bathroom over his drug habits. Thank you, panic attacks! (Sarcasm by the way; if I could speed up the healing process and get rid of those life-hindering things, I would.)_

_ Anyway, I went into his room a little bit ago and explained what happened and why I acted the way I did with him when I was always the one telling Aunt Jenna and Elena to let him come around on his own time. We hugged, too, and it was the best thing that I've ever felt in four months since the accident. For once since that horrible tragedy, since everyone in my family started pulling away from each other a little bit more, I felt like things were finally going to be okay._

_ I'm not naive. I know that it will take a long time before I can look in the mirror and smile, before my sister and I can be in a car without some degree of panic, before Aunt Jenna stops comparing herself to Mom, and definitely before Jeremy stops popping pills and puffing on joints, but it was the first time today where I felt like it _can _be different. That hug with Jeremy made me feel like the four of us could be a family of our own again. It made me believe that there's hope._

_ On another note. Elena and I made our first venture to the Salvatore home._

_ The place was humongous. Like, it looks like a museum and a castle rolled into one. It had antiques, paintings, beautiful designs, and homely decorations galore. It was an artist's paradise. Anyway, as amazing as it was, I'm not writing to gush about how beautiful the boarding house was. I'm writing about my experience there._

_ I didn't get to ask Stefan about what happened at the hospital. I suppose that's for the best, anyway; I still didn't know if I was going crazy or not in believing that there's a possibility that vampires exist, let alone that my friend was attacked by one. I wasn't sure how I could put all of those racing thoughts in words without sounding like a total lunatic._

_ All thoughts of Vicki and vampires flew out of my head, though, when I met him, Stefan's older brother Damon._

_ Cocky is the word that comes to mind to describe Damon Salvatore. He's incredibly cocky and self-confident, and he most certainly never ran out of any sarcastic quips or witty one-liners. He's muscular with raven hair that looks wild but silky; if you ran your fingers through the locks, it would probably feel like diving into a fort of down pillows. And his eyes..._

_ Those pretty, icy, piercing blue eyes that I sketched in Tanner's class. I was mesmerized when I saw those eyes. They made my breathing hitch and my heart race, my body tingle and my soul sing like I knew exactly who this man was._

_ I don't know the explanation why, or how I could even _begin _to obtain the answers to the questions running through my head since the moment I met him, but I felt absolutely and completely safe with Damon Salvatore._

_ Until next time, _

_ -Carly_


	8. Chapter 8: The Night of the Comet

The town square was the place you needed to be whenever a huge event was happening, either that very night or tomorrow night or sometime next week. It was the busiest place in Mystic Falls, where dozens of people went in and out in order to go shopping or have lunch at the Grill located right across or even to sit on the bench in the park-like area in the center whenever you wanted to indulge in some philosophical thinking. The clock tower that stuck out from the ground provided a nice view, too, if you felt like looking at a piece of Mystic Falls history.

Currently, you could find the Gilbert sisters and their friends in said square, handing out pamphlets for the night's comet.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asked Elena after she handed a passerby a pamphlet. She was referring to Stefan.

"Or text," Elena added. From beside her, Carly rolled her eyes, knowing that her sister hadn't even exchanged phone numbers with Stefan. She nodded when Elena, as if reading her mind, continued, "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never even gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in every relationship," Bonnie said.

Carly snorted. "Sure, because you can _totally _build a stable, healthy relationship over a piece of paper with ten digits on the front," the older twin said in a mocking voice, stapling one of the pamphlets together with a little more force than necessary.

Bonnie and Elena turned to stare at her. "What's wrong? You've been like this all morning," Elena said.

"Like what?" Carly continued stapling, the stacks of paper in front of her transforming into neat, organized books of Mystic Falls history.

"Moody, agitated, stressed," Elena listed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Carly replied, finishing up the last little booklet before handing out the finished products, giving the receivers kind smiles when they approached her to take them.

"You're snarkier than usual," Bonnie added, continuing to hand out pamphlets even though her attention remained on her friend.

"Maybe I'm just hormonal," Carly snapped, glaring at the two girls.

A look of realization suddenly washed over their faces, and Carly cursed silently when she herself remembered that she never used anything to cover up the bags under her eyes.

"You had a nightmare," Elena stated.

For the longest time Carly didn't say anything. Then she spoke softly, "Yeah, I did."

"Oh, Carly," Elena breathed, moving forward to gather her twin in her arms, but Carly stepped out of her reach.

"I'm going to go see if Caroline and Ari need any help," Carly said shortly, leaving Elena and Bonnie behind and making her way towards her other friends, who were getting things set up for the night's party.

As Carly walked towards Caroline and Ari, she got that tingly feeling in the back of her mind, that feeling that she always got when someone was staring at her. Stopping, her head whipped to the side. Someone was, in fact, staring at her, and that someone was Damon. He was standing there, his hands clasped together in front of him, a statue amongst tourists, completely frozen in time. His hair was the same messy raven that she saw back at the boarding house where she first met him, and he was wearing a black leather jacket that complimented his muscular physique.

Those beautiful blue orbs, though, were gazing at her intently. The look was soft but possessive at the same time, like he would whisk her away to some remote island if she gave him the word.

Carly felt a small heat build up in her chest, and she took a small step forward, then another, then another. As she moved, that heat expanded and the trance she was in persisted. She didn't feel in control anymore; it was like something higher was connecting her to him and pulling her closer. All she wanted was to be by his side.

Someone walked by, cutting off her field of vision. When they passed, Damon was gone, and Carly froze in place, whatever spell that was on her broken.

Carly took a step back, staring in disbelief at the empty spot. '_What was that?_' She thought, puzzled. '_Was that even real? Did I just imagine that?_'

"Carly!"

Carly's head turned in the direction she heard her name. Caroline and Ari stood there with a huge box of decorations. Caroline was the one who had called her name, and it looked like she had said it a few times because she had that very impatient look on her face and was waving her arm towards herself so fast she could have passed for a windmill.

"Don't just stand there! Get over here! We have a lot we need to do and it won't happen if you laze around all day!" Caroline shouted, and Carly watched Ari laugh a little at her choice of words.

"I'm coming, Care!" Carly called out to the blonde. She took one last look at where she had seen Damon, then turned on her heel and strode towards her best friends.

"Finally!" Caroline exclaimed when Carly came up to them. "I thought you were just going to stand there forever. What made you stop and stare into space, anyway?"

"Nothing," Carly answered. "I thought I saw something, but it turned out I was wrong." She reached into the box of decorations and assisted Ari in taking out candles and matches for the night's comet.

Caroline gave Carly a concerned glance. "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice going from annoyed to worried.

Carly sighed. She hated that question, she really did. "Are you okay?" is a common question from people who pretended to care about another's problems but really didn't. It's so overused and if she never had to hear those words again, it would be too soon.

But this was Caroline. Sweet, beautiful, energetic Caroline who meant well despite her faults. Carly turned her head to her other side to see Ari also staring at her in concern. It was uncommon to see the perky redhead so concerned or serious, but whenever either of those emotions came out, it was because of her friends. She had been friends with these two forever.

Carly sighed again in resignation. Obviously she wasn't going to tell her friends about Damon's brief appearance, but there was one thing she _could _tell them.

"I had a nightmare," she said.

Caroline and Ari both gasped, staring at her. Like Bonnie and Elena, they knew all about Carly's nightmares. At least once a week, the oldest Gilbert twin had a nightmare about the car crash and her parents' death. They've never seen her in the middle of having one, but they knew that when they happened, she couldn't go back to sleep and was irritable for the rest of the day. Sometimes they were so bad they would send her into a panic attack, but that was usually if someone didn't wake her up right away.

Instantly, Caroline and Ari enveloped Carly into their arms, Carly's head resting against Caroline's shoulder and Ari's head lying on Carly's back. "You poor thing," Caroline cooed. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Yeah, or text me?" Ari chimed in, her voice only slightly muffled by the sleeveless black shirt that the brunette was wearing.

"You guys were busy getting to school early, I didn't want to bother you. Besides, it wasn't even a really bad one; I woke myself up before I started screaming," Carly answered. She knew that her explanation was a bad one, but it was all she had to offer them.

"And that's supposed to make us feel _better?_" Caroline scoffed, holding the brunette closer to her. "We're your best friends, Leelee, we're supposed to be here for you, to watch out for you. How are we supposed to do that when you don't even tell us that you had a nightmare this morning?" Carly closed her eyes when she heard the annoyance in her best friend's voice. She could feel movement on her back and knew that Ari was agreeing with the scolding she had just received.

Carly sighed and pulled away from them. "I know, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I know I should have told the two of you, but..."

"I know, _we _know..." Caroline said, cutting her off before she could say any more. "We understand _why_, we just don't like it."

Carly rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Caroline snapped. "Don't roll your eyes at me, missy!"

"Yes, Mom," Carly teased, grinning when she saw her friend crinkle her nose in disgust.

"Ew, no, never!" Caroline shuddered. "Never call me that again."

"You should get used to it, Care," Ari giggled. "Your kids are going to call you that one day."

Carly turned her head and shared a wide grin with the redhead. If it was one thing that they knew would fluster Caroline without fail, it was the topic of children. Caroline was very caring and motherly underneath the shallow Queen Bee image she put on for everyone, but she made it very clear whenever the subject was brought up that children is not in her plans for the future. Naturally, Carly and Ari (but mainly Carly) would purposefully call her things like Mom and Mama and Mother just to tease her.

Caroline glared at Ari. "I am never having kids, you hear me? I don't see them in my future, so be quiet," the blonde hissed. "Now let's go decorate, we've wasted enough time as it is."

Marching over to the box that she had set down to comfort her friend, Caroline leaned down and picked it up, walking away from them.

Carly and Ari both laughed before following after her in her quest of decorating Mystic Falls for one of the biggest nights of the year.

Hours later, Carly was sitting on the grass, leaning against the clock tower as she stared up at the night sky, her lit candle sitting safely next to her. The sky was pitch black, the crescent moon standing out against a sea of ink. In only a few moments, though, the long-awaited comet was about to come shooting through the sky. It would be the first time since 1864 that the comet would grace Mystic Falls with its reappearance, and it was 2009.

One-hundred-and-forty-five years, one-thousand-thirty-eight months, seven-thousand-five-hundred-and-sixty weeks, fifty-two-thousand-nine-hundred-and-twenty-five days, one-million-two-hundred-seventy-thousand-two-hundred hours, seventy-six-million-two-hundred-and-twelve-thousand minutes, and four-billion-five-hundred-seventy-two-million-seven-hundred-and-twenty seconds. That was how much time it would take for the comet to return. It was a once in a lifetime event; if you didn't see it now, then you never would.

'_Unless you're a vampire,_' that little voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Carly shook her head hard, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. There she was again, thinking about vampires and their possible existence. Ever since that day when she saw those holes in Vicki's neck, when she witnessed Vicki's complete loss of memory right after Stefan visited her in the hospital, it's been all she could think about.

Well, that and a certain raven-haired, blue-eyed Salvatore brother...

"You look comfortable."

Concentration on both the sky and her thoughts broken, Carly turned her head to see Stefan standing there, an unlit candle in his hand.

"If you're looking for Elena, she's over there," Carly nodded over to where her twin stood with Matt and Caroline, almost ready for her own candle to be lit.

"I, uh, was looking for you," Stefan said.

Carly stared at him. "For me?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Stefan sat next to the brunette, watchful of her candle. "I know that you're protective of your sister and we haven't had a real conversation yet, so...what do you think of it? A relationship with her?" Stefan's voice was filled with curiosity and, dare say it, approval?

"Honestly?" Carly asked.

"Honestly."

"I think you could be really good for her. When our parents died, it sucked the life out of us, and I've never seen Elena be so low and depressed in our lives. So I think you could help bring back that light in her eyes and make her happy again," Carly watched Stefan smile softly, a smile that faltered a bit when she continued, "I also think you have a lot of secrets and I'm warning you...Elena is big on trust, so am I for that matter, so if you want to be with her, you need to let her know what's going on."

Carly held Stefan's gaze, seeing that guarded expression that he always seems to wear slip back into place. It was obvious that he harbored something that he wasn't willing to share with anyone. She didn't know what it was, but she hoped that he would explain his past-especially that ex-girlfriend that Damon so callously mentioned in front of Elena-before it seriously hurt anyone.

It took a little while before he responded, so long that she had turned her attention back to the sky, so she jumped a little when his voice once again sliced through the stillness of the night. "My life is a little...difficult...to explain," he started. "My parents are dead and my brother and I don't get along at all. It's hard for me to actually open up and talk about it because when I do, something always happens and people get hurt."

Carly watched him, feeling sympathetic. Stefan Salvatore, contrary to what their classmates and teachers must think, was not emotionless. He _did _have fears and hopes and dreams like the rest of them did, and right now he was just a guy with an interest in a girl and raging family issues.

"Stefan, you're opening up to me right now," she said gently, watching him until he looked at her.

"Yeah, but it's different with you," he said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Honestly?" Although his face was still pinched with worry, the corner of his mouth quirked up in the slightest as he initiated the exchange they had when he, essentially, first asked for her permission to date her sister.

"Honestly," Carly returned the gesture, a tiny grin of her own spreading when she realized what he was doing.

"I feel like I can talk with you because I think we're a lot alike," Stefan admitted. At her questioning look he elaborated, "you're darker and more withdrawn than the rest of your friends and even though you get along with your sister, you feel as if you're second best, whether that's true or not. Am I right?" He asked.

Carly pursed her lips and chewed a little on her bottom one before slowly replying, "Yeah."

It was silent for a few minutes before Stefan rose from his position next to her and walked over to Elena, leaving her with her thoughts.

Carly sat there, thinking over what he had just told her. She noticed how she and Stefan were similar, too, but she didn't think that anyone else did. She felt a connection to the younger Salvatore the first time she, Bonnie, and Elena saw him retrieving his schedule on the first day of school. Obviously it wasn't a romantic connection or anything, but it was a connection all the same.

He was right, too. They _were _a lot alike. They were quiet, dark, mysterious, more so now on Carly's part since the wreck that killed her parents and nearly killed her and Elena, so it would make sense that she'd have a more somber personality than she did before. And he was especially right when he said that as much as she loved her sister, she always felt second best. Being the older twin-and the oldest Gilbert sibling, if you wanted to be technical-made her more responsible, more attentive to what Elena and Jeremy needed. She felt like more of a mother to them sometimes and while it usually didn't bother her, there were times (especially during the early grieving period after the crash happened) in which her status in birth order drove her nuts.

Her musing was, once again, cut off. This time, though, it was because of the comet itself. She heard awed gasps and excited whispers at finally being able to witness such an event. The pencil in her hand began to move against the blank page of her sketchbook, accurately mapping out the outline of the beautiful clump of ice and rock that was currently shooting into her line of vision.

The comet _was _beautiful. It was shooting across the sky at a steady pace, more than enough time for every eye in the square to take in its beauty. It was a ball of energy, the light emitted from it illuminating the sky until the comet was the only thing you could truly see. The color was a gorgeous pale blue that started white and darkened as it got further down the body. The tail was harder to see, but Carly could still make out a faint blue. The whole comet stood out; the stars, the moon, the trees, it all fell away and was pushed into the background in favor of the majestic piece of astronomy that would only be seen again by their grandchildren.

By the time the comet had passed, the pencil drawing was complete and people began to file out of the square, the beauty of the moment gone but not forgotten. She heard murmurings of her friends leaving for the Grill, but Carly headed instead for the direction of home, wishing to shade and then color her sketch so she could carry this night with her for the rest of her life.

An hour later, Carly had just finished shading her comet sketch when she heard Elena arrive home. Closing her sketchbook, Carly rose from her bed and left her room just as Elena stopped in Jeremy's doorway.

"What's going on?" Carly asked, coming up behind Elena. Her question, however, was answered when her eyes landed on Jenna, who was running around Jeremy's room, throwing things to the side and rifling through his clothes and other possessions in search of something. Just what it was Carly wasn't sure of, but she was willing to bet money that it had something to do with his "extracurricular activities."

"What are you doing?" Elena asked as they watched their aunt destroy their brother's room.

Jenna straightened up from where she was digging through her nephew's nightstand. "I've become my worst nightmare," she said gravely, looking around the room before her eyes landed on the pile of clothes in the corner of the room. "The authority figure who has to violate a fifteen-year-old's privacy." She stalked over to the pile, moving the clothes there and a boot aside.

"Jackpot!" She pulled free a bong. "I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative," she threw the boot to the side and continued her search.

Carly and Elena both furrowed their brows, both confused and concerned for their aunt. She never did anything like this; what made her change?

"What brought this on?" Elena asked as she and Carly walked deeper into the room.

"Your asshat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday," Jenna informed her nieces, rifling through the top drawer of Jeremy's dresser while the girls sat down, managing to squeeze together on Jeremy's bean bag chair.

"You got Tannered," Elena commented, picking up the bong and looking at it. "Been there."

Carly made a disgusted noise. "What did that asshole say to you?" She growled, already thinking of ways to kill Tanner and make it look like an accident.

"'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers,'" Jenna deepened her voice in an imitation of Mr. Tanner's as she pulled out another drug-related item from Jeremy's desk and inspected it. "Got it, thanks. Like I didn't know already that I was screwing up."

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna," Elena said.

"Yeah," Carly agreed with her sister. "Mr. Tanner is just a jerk who likes bringing people down to make himself feel better. You shouldn't listen to him," her attempt to comfort her distraught aunt fell on deaf ears when Jenna shook her head.

"No, ladybug, he's right. I _am _screwing up. You know why?" The blonde didn't wait for an answer and continued on, "Because I'm not _her_. She made everything look so easy. High school, marriage, having the two of you," she stopped.

Elena and Carly looked back at their aunt before looking down. Mentioning their mother was still so painful to them, and hearing Jenna talk about herself like she was worthless and inferior, that her effort and love would never be enough in comparison to Miranda was unbearable.

"I can't do it," Jenna confessed softly, tears beginning to well in her eyes as her pained voice lowered. "I'm going to say and do the wrong thing and he's going to get worse and it's going to be _my fault_." Jenna sighed shakily as she walked over to Jeremy's bed and sat down, her nieces watching her the entire time. Slumping onto the mattress, Jenna took a few seconds to compose herself before she told them, the weight of their situation hitting her like a freight train. "It's _impossible._"

Elena instantly leaned forward. "That's just the fear talking," the younger Gilbert twin said firmly. "You're a little scared, that's all..." she trailed off, a look of realization suddenly appearing as if something had just dawned on her. "We all are."

Jenna leaned forward this time, tilting her head as she stared at Elena with concern.

Carly smiled slightly when she recognized Elena's epiphany. She and Stefan must have discussed something pretty heavy for her to look like that. She hoped that that meant she was finally going to open her heart to the mysterious new kid that had obviously stolen it.

"I have to go do something," Elena said, but stared at her aunt. "Are you going to be okay?"

Jenna smiled and nodded. Elena then got up, put a hand on her sister's shoulder, and left the room.

Carly looked around the room. "How about we clean Jeremy's room up first, then we can go make some extra buttery popcorn, get out a couple of tubs of cookie dough ice cream and then watch movies until we fall asleep. Does that sound good?" She asked, reaching for her aunt's hand.

Jenna's smile grew wider, meeting her niece's hand halfway and squeezing it. "Yeah," she nodded happily. "That sounds perfect."

Carly smiled back at the blonde and the two cleaned up Jeremy's room. When it looked just the way it did earlier when he left, the aunt and niece walked downstairs to spend their night bonding over chick flicks and comfort food.


	9. Chapter 9: Teeny Bopper Drama

Carly was sitting in the stands near the football field, coloring in her comet sketch. While she enjoyed using crayons, colored pencils, and the occasional paint when coloring her sketches, oil pastels were her favorite materials to use. She loved oil pastels; she loved the way that you could streak a few colors together and, using only a finger or a small wad of paper towel, it would blend so beautifully together that it became a whole new color. While the oily texture would be off-putting to others, she quite enjoyed it. She loved the smooth silkiness of the pastels, the way it would just glide easily across paper and the skin of her fingers. She even loved the smell and the dots and lines of color they would leave behind once she finished using them. They were sorely underestimated in the art world, but she supposed that was also why she felt so drawn to them; Carly saw the similarities between herself and the tiny art supplies: both were painfully and frustratingly overlooked, pushed aside for better and more vibrant materials, and had an uncomfortable-to-others appearance despite the beauty they helped create.

With one more stroke of the paper towel, her sketch was complete. Carly smiled softly at her newest creation. The mix of blues, greens, whites, and blacks all helped create such a perfect picture of what she had witnessed the night before. The comet, obviously, took up most of the space on the page, the stars and the night sky just there to provide background. So far, this sketch was her favorite.

Closing her sketchbook and putting away her oil pastels, Carly looked up. Right in her line of sight was the football field, where students were walking and conversing; some of the sportier ones were even roughhousing and throwing footballs around. In her peripheral vision she could see Stefan and Elena talking, and a smile grew on her face. '_I guess Stefan and I's talk and Elena's epiphany got the magic started,_' Carly thought, her smile widening at the thought.

The smile dropped, however, when she noticed Matt and Tyler. They had been tossing a football back and forth when they saw Stefan and Elena. Now Tyler was animatedly talking to Matt, who looked both sad and reluctant. Carly couldn't hear a word they were saying since they were so far away, but she was willing to bet all the money in her wallet that Tyler was being his typical dick self and trying to get Matt to do something to either hurt Stefan or screw up his and Elena's budding relationship, or both.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she watched Tyler throw the football that had been passed back to him right at Stefan's turned back. Carly gasped when, instead of the ball hitting his head, it landed in between his hands.

Staring in shock, Carly's mind stayed blank for all but two seconds before it began to race. Stefan's attention had been completely on Elena; he hadn't even given any indication whatsoever that he was paying attention to whatever else was going on. He shouldn't have been able to hear the ball coming let alone be fast enough to turn around and catch it.

"Oh, god," Carly whispered so low no one but her could hear. "What if the whole vampire thing is true and I'm not going crazy? What if Stefan..."

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt like she was about to collapse. Quickly gathering her things, Carly stepped off the bleachers and sped for the school, wanting nothing more than to get inside and to the art room, her sanctuary, the only place besides her bedroom where she felt safe. With the sudden realization that maybe her world wasn't as black and white as she originally thought, she completely missed the two pairs of eyes following her every move.

When Carly walked out of the art room, five minutes before History was supposed to begin, she ran into Caroline. "Oof!" Both girls groaned when they collided.

"Hey, watch where you're-oh hey, Carly!" Caroline brightened immediately when she saw it was her best friend she had run into and not some kid trying to be a jerk.

"Hey, Care," Carly smiled. "Where have you been?"

"I stayed with Ari last night," the blonde answered as they walked to Tanner's class.

Carly looked at her, one brow arched in surprise. "Really? That's kind of strange since you and Ari aren't that close," she commented.

"I love Ari!" Caroline defended herself. Carly gave her a look. "Okay! So she annoys me a lot with her big mouth and her inability to stay away from her phone except for when she's in class, but we've been getting closer since we had to set up for the Night of the Comet festival and she invited me to spend the night last night so I did. It's better than going home alone or moping about my lost Salvatore brother." The pout she gave at the end of her explanation made Carly laugh.

"Alright, fair point," Carly conceded.

A comfortable silence stretched between the two friends before Caroline broke it. "So I heard from Elena that she's going to try to get Stefan to try out for the football team." Caroline's tone was innocent and conversational but it still unnerved Carly.

Even though Stefan was still nice to her, even after that heartfelt conversation they had at the festival, Carly felt suspicious. Stefan Salvatore was shrouded in mystery, in this blanket of darkness that always seemed to be wrapped around him no matter where he went. She could feel something about him, something that was up. He would hesitate in the slightest whenever his family was mentioned and he _caught _a ball that had been hurtling towards him at breakneck speed, all the while he was completely oblivious! It didn't make any sense.

'_But it does,_' that traitor voice whispered in her head. '_He's a vampire._'

Carly shook her head in denial, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. This vampire thing was bothering her so much that it was all she could think about. If she didn't get answers soon she would go insane, she was sure of it.

When they entered Tanner's classroom, Carly sat silently in her seat, sketchbook laid unopened in front of her. She stared hard down at the cover as if it held all of the answers to her questions. The idea of vampires existing in Mystic Falls was ludicrous; it shouldn't be possible to live longer than the average seventy-to-eighty-year timeframe that was predetermined for all members of the human race, but it seems as if the whole world was setting out to prove her wrong, first with the fang marks in Vicki's neck, then with her sudden memory loss following Stefan's visit to her hospital room, and now with his miraculous catching of the football prior to this very class.

Carly rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on the more she thought about this.

"Miss Gilbert?"

Instinctively, Carly's head shot up to see Mr. Tanner standing there with his arms crossed and a glare in his eyes. Carly followed his line of vision and saw her twin sitting in her seat, a blank expression etched into her face. Her hands were in her lap, a clear sign that she was texting instead of paying attention to the lesson. '_It's about time she stopped paying attention to that asshat,_' Carly thought dryly.

"Hmm?" Elena's noncommittal reply made Carly grin.

"Pearl Harbor?" Tanner prompted, staring at her expectantly.

Elena swallowed nervously, that blank expression turning into a deer-in-headlights one. "Umm..." She mumbled, wracking her brain for the answer but coming up empty.

"December 7, 1941."

The very masculine voice had heads turning to see that Stefan Salvatore had spoken. Carly stared at Stefan. Although she still felt strange with him, a surge of gratefulness ran through her body at the way he, once again, saved her sister from embarrassment.

"Thank you, _Miss Gilbert_," Tanner emphasized, and a murmur of laughter spread across the room.

Stefan gave him a small, sarcastic smile. "Anytime," he replied.

Carly smirked when she saw the annoyed look on Tanner's face.

"Very well," Tanner began after a few beats of silence. "The fall of the Berlin Wall."

"1989," Stefan answered immediately. "I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" Tanner challenged, staring at him. "How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

Now Tanner was looking pissed off. "The battle of Gettysburg," he continued, and Carly didn't even have to look at him to know that his face was getting red and his teeth were grinding together.

Stefan didn't miss a beat. "1863," he said smoothly.

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner shouted, his face lit with a savage glee. "It ended in '5_2_," he looked ecstatic over finally putting one over this smartass new kid.

Carly watched Stefan purse his lips. "Uh, actually, sir, it was '53," the younger Salvatore corrected politely.

Tanner glanced around at all of his students who were just staring. Needing to know himself, the man barked, "Someone look it up! Quickly!"

All the students, minus Carly and Stefan, fished their phones from their pockets to see which one was right: the teacher or the new kid. It was one male, an African American who Carly didn't even know the name of, who found the correct year. "It was 19...53," he looked up with a wide grin at the realization that the teacher everyone hated was, once again, humiliated.

Tanner stood, speechless for a few minutes before his jaw clenched and he turned around to face the chalkboard.

Carly smirked and opened her sketchbook, happily drawing for the remainder of the class period, Tanner's embarrassment instantly putting her in a great mood. The bell finally rang and Carly started packing up her stuff when she felt eyes on her again. Looking up, she spotted the same crow from the cemetery and the boarding house perched on top of the high school sign. Its eyes were black and beady and bore into her own with such intensity that it reminded her of Damon.

A tap on her shoulder made her jump and whip around in her seat. Caroline was standing behind her, a huge grin on her face. "Hey!" The blonde chirped.

Carly relaxed into her seat. "Don't scare me like that, Care," she scolded as she took a few seconds to calm her racing heart before she began packing up her things.

"Sorry," Caroline apologized. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come watch us at cheerleading practice."

"I can't," Carly replied.

Caroline deflated. "Why not?" She demanded, disappointed.

"I have to finish my art project."

"Well, can't you do it another day?"

Carly sighed in exasperation. Contrary to what people thought about the Queen Bee of Mystic Falls High, Caroline _did _care about her artwork and was proud of her for it, but certain things could make her ignorant and borderline insensitive over it. Certain things like cheerleading practice.

"No, Caroline, I can't. I've been working on it for the last few weeks and I need to finish it today or it won't be included in the art show next month," Carly explained, placing her sketchbook in her bag before standing up and stepping away from her desk.

Caroline pouted but then perked up, her huge grin returning full force. "Fine, but you're coming to the game tomorrow night!"

Carly snorted. "Surrounded by sweaty teenage boys who are high on testosterone and most likely steroids, yeah, that'll be a fun time," she drawled sarcastically, sighing when Caroline gave her an unamused glare. "Yes, I'll come, but I have to go finish my project now," she started walking out of the classroom with the blonde before turning to go to the art room.

"Love you!" She heard Caroline call from behind her.

Carly smiled. "Love you, too!" She returned the call with one of her own before entering her art classroom, which, save for the teacher, was usually empty during this time of day. This time, however, she wasn't alone.

"Vicki?"

Vicki Donovan looked up from her place at Carly's table. "Hey, Carly," she greeted quietly. After a few seconds she waved her hand towards the tiny clay figurine, a palette filled with paint, and a fresh cup of water that were all lying on the table. "I got you your stuff for you."

The clay figurine was more of a ceramic one now as it had already been fired and cooled, but it was very clear to those who looked at it what it was. It was an angel. The angel was tall (or as tall as a figurine could get) and thin and was easily distinguishable by others as being female. It had blonde hair that was pulled back into a neat bun and had blue eyes flecked with gold. Her navy suit made her appear very sophisticated, like a businesswoman; Carly's even entertained the thought that if she were a real person, she would have a prim and proper personality similar to a college professor or even one of those really strict nuns who often work in convents. Her wings were beautiful; they were fluffy and spread out across her back. They were pure white and seemed to almost glow in the light of the art room.

Carly sat down across from Vicki, thanking her for gathering her supplies while placing her bag on the empty desk beside her and dipping her brush first in water and then paint in order to apply the finishing touches before turning it in to her teacher.

"How did you get the idea to make that, anyway?" Vicki asked, watching her friend as she diligently painted.

"I don't know," Carly replied after a few minutes of focused silence. "I just had a dream about it a couple of weeks ago and she was in it. I don't know her name or anything, but I felt like I had to remember what she looked like so I decided to make her for my project."

Vicki hummed.

More silence passed between them as Carly finished up the last coat of paint. Inspecting it, she smiled. It was just the way she liked it; smooth, shone in the light, and formed and painted in ways that revealed neat lines and grooves. She liked it, and so she rose from her seat and placed the finished figurine into the spot on the back table usually reserved for painting projects that are finished but still need to be dried. Returning to her seat, she slid across from Vicki and asked, "So what are you doing here?"

"What?" Vicki asked, staring at her.

"Well, honestly Vicki, you're not exactly known to hang out in here amongst paintbrushes and scrap paper," Carly started, folding her arms out in front of her. "So what's up?"

Vicki was silent for a little while, either reluctant or thinking about what she wanted to say. Finally she spoke, "It's Tyler and Jeremy. They're fighting over me and trying to be the alpha male. It's so stupid."

Carly sighed. "Yay, teen drama," she muttered. "Vicki, they may be fighting over you, but the only opinion here that matters is yours, so who do you really want?"

"I don't know!" Vicki groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Jeremy is sweet and all, but Tyler is...Tyler, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Carly's voice was a little hard.

If Vicki noticed the tone of her voice, she didn't comment. Instead she admitted, "I don't know what to do."

"You're going to have to know," Carly told her. "Because saying nothing or encouraging one more than the other is going to cause more problems and more fights and eventually that will escalate into something dangerous and out of control. You're my friend, Vicki, but if my little brother gets hurt because of this, a love triangle will be the least of your worries. Same with Tyler."

This time Vicki did look up. "I don't want Jeremy to be hurt," she said.

"I know you don't, but it'll be inevitable if this continues," seeing the dejected look on the older Donovan's face, Carly told her in a much gentler voice, "Just take a couple of nights to think it over. Think about who brings you more joy, who makes you smile more, who you find yourself trying to be a better person for. Think about the person who accepts you for who you are and who you believe you can be happy with, and choose that person." Carly stood up from her chair and pulled her bag free from the desk it was resting on. "I have to get home and you need to go to work, but think about what I said. And Vicki?"

Vicki looked up from the table-she had been staring down at it in contemplation while her friend had been talking-and stared at the oldest Gilbert in expectant curiosity.

"I hope for your sake and everyone else's that you choose the right person."

With those parting words, Carly turned on her heel and walked out of the art room, heading for home while hoping that this Tyler/Vicki/Jeremy mess will resolve itself, preferably with zero casualties and minimal violence.


End file.
